


Skein | Strands of the Solstice

by UsagiSquared



Series: Skein [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Female Seto Kaiba in other words, Gender or Sex Swap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 17:41:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 49,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18554638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UsagiSquared/pseuds/UsagiSquared
Summary: Part 3 of Skein - Formerly known as 'Skin' on FF.net. | In the aftermath of the Duelist Kingdom, the Holidays have come charging around the corner. It's the perfect time for people to spend time together- especially those separated by things such as months long comas.A holiday focused intermission between the Duelist Kingdom Arc and the Legendary Heroes Arc.





	1. Settling Down Again

There weren't too many words to describe what happened during the next few days after returning. After Katsuya finished his 'story' most of the group had fallen silent, only breaking it for calm chatter among themselves. They were tired after all- and by all rights in dire need of a proper meal. By the time the helicopter left it was late into the afternoon, so at the moment it was well into the evening, bringing them to a few days since catching their boat to the island. Only Bakura was still awake at that point, giving him the task of lightly shaking the others awake as they landed at the hangar for the helicopter itself.

 

Listening as the copter powered down, they'd watched as Mai picked up her things and left the copter, hopping out to head to a subway station and later take a train home. ' _Tell your friend I appreciated the lift_ ,' she had said with a smile, before disappearing just as Seto herself came through the door. By the time one had left, the other was busy herding them off the copter- and although Mai somewhat escaped the glare and questioning, they didn't, given that it was fairly evident that someone had stowed away on board the copter.

 

Particularly since- according to Mokuba anyway- Seto had actually slowed down somewhat to accommodate the pick up. Mokuba had thankfully acted as buffer for the angered comments as the others were sent home from there. Kind of, at least. While he liked avoiding any questioning, the fact that it was stopped by Mokuba insisting on a hospital call wasn't really something he enjoyed. The others headed home rather soon themselves- they were fairly confident that Katsuya would be fine after all- but the blond himself was predictably irritated. He could handle himself damn it! He was alive now, six hours after getting shot at, he wasn't about to die after that, right?

 

Apparently that was no excuse, and it was likely his annoyance on the matter that had Seto herself calling up the one remaining chauffeur she knew on the 'new staff' to get him to the place. Or maybe it was for Mokuba's sake. Or even just Mokuba's words from many months before.

 

 _'I take care of my employees,'_ he'd said back then, and again when handing him a shoebox later that day. ' _Just like my big sister does._ ' He couldn't get mad about that for too long if he was honest with himself. He really couldn't, not after all that had gone on.

 

The blond groaned, giving a yawn as he walked to the school the morning after all of the chaos had finally settled. Even so, these shoes were pretty damn uncomfortable compared to his well worn 'Air Muscles'. So what if they had a hole in the front, he liked those shoes! Not to say he wasn't grateful or anything for the quick purchase, but even so. He winced as they squeaked along the ground, tapping his toe against the front steps before switching them out for the familiar slippers that everyone else in the building wore. Alright... That was a bit better.

 

"Ah, Jonouchi-kun!" The blond turned, grinning as Yugi walked over from where he'd switched his own shoes out. "I thought Mokuba sent you to the hospital..."

 

He snorted, a grin still on his face as they walked toward their classroom. Yeah he'd been in there but... That was yesterday! He was fine now, and had been fine the day before. "Hah! Like I'd be stuck there!" He stretched somewhat, bag held over his shoulder as they continued walking down the hall. Missed two more days of school, probably wasn't much of a problem though. Right? He pushed the thoughts back, instead continuing the conversation with a grin. "Sides, not like there was much t' do... Just a small cut, didn' even hit anythin' big!"

 

Yugi bit his lip, looking up at the still bandaged area in question as they entered the classroom. It was still healing of course; his feet were in similar condition, which was probably part of the reason why his shoes were so uncomfortable. The bandages weren't nearly as thick as the night before- Though it still made for one obvious injury that classmates could stare at. Ah well, he'd have a cool scar right?

 

... Hidden by his hair... Damn it. Despite that glaring fact, his friend was still very much worried about just what could have (And possibly had) happened. "Erm..." The boy nodded slowly, still not quite believing the words. "If you say so... There was a lot of blood though..."

 

The blond shrugged, moving over to take his seat. Yeah, but that was nothing. Washed out easy enough hadn't it? His green jacket was forever stained of course but hey, nothing too bad. (Course this was a little more than the standard...) "Eh, it's fine..." Katsuya dropped his bag on the ground, watching as the others in the class slowly came into the room. It was all slightly surreal, spending the last three days on an island with next to nothing no matter what the surroundings only to be going back to school. The blond leaned back on his seat, before blinking as he spotted one of the others they'd stayed with on that island in question. "Oiii!" The teen at the door turned, blinking. "Honda!"

 

Yugi turned as well as his friend shouted, Honda in question waving from the door as he came over. "Hey..." He grinned, leaning against a nearby desk as Anzu joined from the door as well. "Looks like you escaped the hospital!" He snorted, crossing his arms.

 

"'S one way 't put it... 'Sides, not like me missin' two days 'f school is that big a deal!"

 

"It was still creepy," Honda added seriously as they recalled the few days he'd skipped, Anzu rolling her eyes from the side as they were joined by Bakura.

 

The albino in question frowned, putting his backpack by his desk and looking at the others in confusion. "What was creepy?" he asked, blinking. Oh right, he wouldn't know about that. Honda shrugged, shaking his head at the question. Looked like he was going to _remain_ out of the loop too.

 

"Eh... Nothing much really," he said, bag dropping to the ground. "So," he asked, changing the subject fairly quickly. Bakura was left to frown, but he politely remained silent as Honda carried on. "How's your sister Jonouchi?" His si-

 

Damn it Honda. He held back a frown, the grin dying for a moment before answering the question. Honda was not coming anywhere near his sister, no where near... And thankfully he reassured himself, there was a 10,000 yen train ticket in the way of that happening should he miraculously get her address. Which he couldn't. Back to the matter at hand... "I talked t' her las' night after gettin' outta the hospital," he said with a slight nod, recalling the conversation he'd had. ' _You can get yer eyes fixed,_ ' he'd said with an unseen grin while on the phone, the girl on the other end balking in surprise. ' _There's still a chance, trust me!_ ' It took a bit to convince her that he hadn't done something stupid (illegal) to get 16 and a half million yen in the end; apparently the fact that he'd come in 'second' in a gathering of top duelists at a tournament was hard to swallow, but he got there eventually. The helicopter had brought everyone home too late to go making any calls, so in the end he'd called Shizuka the first shot he had getting out of the hospital instead. With some help he'd had the money sent over to his mom's account, and everything was set up...no strings attached. "She's goin' int' surgery on th' 20th," he continued with a smile, the expression growing into a relieved grin when he thought back to the elated shouts from his sister when the fact that she could have the surgery had finally hit her. "Next Wednesday."

 

"The 20th..." The others turned as Bakura frowned, a hand on his chin for a moment. "For something as delicate as her eyes, that would mean recovery will take weeks..." Yeah. He knew that. The frown deepened, the teen continuing on as the others grins faded into more blank expressions. "Even if it

wasn't that long, that extends far beyond the holidays..." Yeah. Exactly.

 

The blond shrugged, a wry smile in place. "Well... Not like I got t' spend too many Christmases with her anyways..." He'd kinda gotten used to it. Though he didn't even have his dad for this year... The thought was pushed out of mind again and he coughed, before turning to the others and replacing the smile with a more honest grin. "Besides- now we'll have next year, and she can see it! So! Speakin' 'f Christmas, what are you guys doin'?"

 

There was a small silence as the others shared glances, Honda speaking first. "Just the usual for me," he said, glancing at the clock before continuing. They'd managed to get into the building a little earlier than the norm; there was still a good ten minutes before class would start. "Christmas with my sister, her fiancee, and my nephew, nothing new really." Fiancee? So the guy who helped spawn the kid was officially marrying Honda's sister then? Abruptly Honda frowned, biting his lip as a sudden thought came to mind. "Damn," he muttered, wincing. "What the hell do I give a kid who watches porn all day..." No answer was given to that particular question of course- because honestly, why the hell would they know the answer to that? Honda appeared to shake it off after a few seconds however, and ended up turning to Bakura. "How about you Bakura?" he asked, the others nodding. "You live on your own right?" Oh yeah... Didn't his dad live in the Bunkyou district? Not exactly walking distance.

 

Of course, Bakura's dad was apparently constantly out of the country for a dig anyways- it was the entire reason they lived separately at all. Nonetheless Bakura nodded readily in response, a small smile in place. "Yes... Well... My father says he'll be in the area for the holidays, so we made plans to catch up on things... He's the new curator of the museum you know," he said somewhat offhandedly, a glimmer of the closest thing one could call pride by Bakura's standards visible to them. Oh? So did that mean he wasn't going to randomly disappear all the time? "He's actually considering extending the Egyptian display," the teen continued with evident excitement, Katsuya recalling his fairly excessive interest in the false millennium eye with the thought. "Would you like me to let you know how that goes..?" Eh? About the Egypt display? While Yugi nodded eagerly, the others gave a small and nervous shrug.

 

"It's up to you," Anzu said calmly, leaning forward on the desk. "What sorts of things would be there? I know they already have a lot at the museum..." Enough to get that creepy Egyptian guy on their tail for the scariest damn night of their lives...

 

Bakura blinked, disappearing into thought for a moment. "That's a good question," he muttered, frowning slightly before turning back with a smile. "I'll be sure to ask him though!" Hahaha, that didn't change much of what they knew. "In any case... If you don't mind my asking, what do you have planned for the holidays?"

 

Another blink, this time on Anzu's part as the others all turned on her. "...Me?" she asked, before receiving a nod in response. "Actually, I'm going to be in Kyoto for the winter break..." Kyoto? "You probably won't believe this," she said with a slight laugh, shaking her head as the others listened in, "But while we were on the subway together, Mai invited me to her house there..." Wait Mai? Mai invited her over?

 

"Mai lives in Kyoto?" Honda asked quickly, the others shaking their heads or something close to it at

the reaction. That sounded a little less like disbelief and more... The teen coughed, shaking himself before continuing. "...Where?"

 

Anzu frowned, crossing her arms. "Believe me when I say, I'm not telling you if it costs me my life Honda..." Rolling her eyes as Honda groaned in response, she turned a much softer expression to Yugi. "What about you Yugi?" she asked with a smile, ignoring Honda's mutterings of ' _temple city, who would have thought.._.'. "Do you have any plans for the holidays?"

 

He shrugged, shaking his head. "No more than usual," he admitted, a somewhat sad expression on his face. Hn? What was the usual then? "I know that my mom will be there, and hopefully Grandpa will be out of the hospital soon..." That was right, Sugoroku's body had been hospitalized soon after his soul flew off. But after Pegasus was dealt with...

 

“Oh yeah..." Katsuya turned to the boy, leaning on his arm. "How is your grandpa anyways, I mean... I know he got 's soul back but..." Well the fact was, he was already having heart troubles...

 

His friend nodded, eyes wide with slight worry. "He's definitely back," he stated confidently, hands resting on his puzzle. "I'm just a little worried... When I was talking to him yesterday, he said that he thought he saw Grandma before he came back..." His grandma? Wait...

 

Sugoroku saw his dead wife? He held back a shudder, falling silent for a moment. Hihhhhh... Ghosts. He quickly jumped on the change in subject when Honda turned the Christmas question on him. "Hey, plans aside," he said, leaning back on his arms with a shrug, "What do you think Kaiba's going to do for the holidays?" As the others remained silent at that, he glanced at the clock again before continuing. Five minutes left. "I mean... He's not exactly the kind of guy to do anything like that, but do you think with Mokuba... Kid seemed pretty gung-ho about it last time I checked."

 

"Hnnn..." Katsuya shrugged, leaning in his chair with a frown. It was a good question... Seto sure as hell didn't seem to be one to get into holidays, but like Honda said... "Sh- He'll probably get somethin' f'r Mokuba at least," he decided, giving another shrug to the subject. "Not really sure abou' anythin' else though..."

 

Honda shrugged as well, taking his seat as the others continued to listen. "Well, give the kid holiday greetings for me will you," he asked, Katsuya nodding in response. "Got it," he said with a smirk, before blinking as a slight humming noise entered his ears. Eh. What was that... He turned to the source, watching as Yugi appeared to stare off for a few moments before turning. Alright. He wasn't the one humming so where...

 

Yugi blinked, still holding his puzzle as he replaced his blank expression with a smile. "Ah... By the way," he asked, leaning against his seat. "The other Yugi want's to know... Jonouchi-kun, what are you going to do for Christmas presents? I know you got one for your sister but..." The others turned, before looking back at Jonouchi.

 

"Presents?" Bakura repeated with slight surprise, blinking. "Didn't you say you already bought something for Mokuba-kun, Jonouchi-kun?" Yes... He did. Kinda. Um.

 

Katsuya scratched his head, inwardly wincing as Yugi as well realized just what the conversation had possibly wrought. If all _known_ parties he'd purchase for were accounted for after all, who else could Yugi be asking about? "Yeah," Anzu muttered, frowning as the two shared a nervous glance. "You did...and it isn't like we normally do gift exchanges..." The woman's expression suddenly lit up with surprise however, Anzu almost pausing over her own words for a moment. "Wait... Are you dating someone?" she asked, eyes slightly wider than the norm.

 

Honda as well blinked at that, looking at his friend somewhat incredulously. The silence was really all he needed to know for that one. "Errr..." He coughed, laughing somewhat nervously as he turned back to Yugi. "Y-Y'know what, I could ask th' same thing t' you Yugi..." Get this subject off him now... Please...

 

Yugi instantly blushed at the comment of course, turning awkwardly away from Anzu before coughing. "E-Erm... I... I don't think I'll have any problems..." Oh. He blinked, quickly remembering Anzu's earlier mention of her own plans. Right. Yugi's chances of a date were now spending that time in Kyoto. Whoops. The boy looked back up, glancing at the clock as it ticked down to three minutes before the bell. "Um... So, holidays aside," he asked, swallowing back his nervousness. "Does anyone want to come with me to Burger World on Friday?" Friday? Damn it.

 

Katsuya bit his lip, frowning. "I got work... Sorry man..." Yugi nodded, turning to the others as they as well gave less than hoped for answers.

 

Honda was next to speak, frowning and shaking his head with a sigh. "I would if I could man... But my sister signed me up for a bunch of after school Christmas deals..." He scratched his head, biting his lip. "Never should have said I was free after school damn it..." The others looked at him somewhat sympathetically, before Bakura turned to him with a small smile.

 

"Erm... You know," he asked politely, bowing his head as the teen turned to him. "If you like, I could probably help..." The teen gave Bakura an odd look in response, an almost suspicious glint in his eye. In fact, it almost looked like the kind of stare he only saw way back in middle school... When Hirutani was involved. This was Bakura though.

 

Why would he get that look around Bakura? "That's fine," Honda muttered with a cough, the look vanishing quickly. "I'll be alright..."

 

Bakura nodded, frowning slightly in response. "Well... If you say so. I could always-"

 

- _Brrrrrrrnnng!_

 

The group turned as the bell rang over Bakura's next words, the albino in question hurrying to take his seat next to Jonouchi as Anzu as well moved. Well, probably wasn't too bad...

 

"Oh..." He turned to Yugi as the teacher walked in, voice lowering to a whisper as he remembered what he had originally planned on asking earlier. "Ah.. Yugi?" The boy as well turned, blinking as his friend continued. "I gotta pick up my stuff from yer house after school t'morrow... That alrigh'?" He'd do it today but...

 

Well, he kinda wanted to make sure Seto didn't manage to kick him out first. Yugi quickly nodded, smiling. "Of course! Not a problem... Mokuba fixed things with the papers then?" Provided Seto didn't say anything...

 

"Yep!" He grinned, crossing his arms over on the desk. "Still working th' usual days though, the weekends and-"

 

"Jonouchi-kun," came the teacher at the front, both teens jumping and turning to the front with a jolt. "Mutou-kun... If you could pay attention..."

 

"R-Right, sorry Sensei!"

 

"Sorry..." Class time... Right.

 

...He hated math.

 

* * *

 

Needless to say the topic of Christmas was still fairly inescapable after school ended, let alone during the lunch break. Both that very day, and even the day after. With only one week and a few days or so away there was nothing but talk of parties, vacations... Hell, with the way everyone was going on about it, he'd have thought they had more than a mere few days off for the holidays! It was still something to talk about however, even after he and Yugi had headed off on their own down the street.

 

Honda and Bakura had headed off in their usual directions, and even though Anzu's regular route would normally take her down the road with Yugi she as well was missing. Something about a new job down town at... An engraving store? (Good luck with that he supposed.) Still, given that he was used to walking alone thanks to the 'off map' route that he had to take to get to the house, even just walking with Yugi was a welcome chance. "So... Jonouchi-kun," Yugi asked, continuing the conversation that had been cut short that morning. Katsuya turned to the boy as they continued down the street, Yugi still staring curiously as he repeated his question. "... _Are_ you doing anything for Kaiba-san? For Christmas I mean?" Christmas? Right.

 

Presents. Um... He coughed, biting his lip. Truth be told... No. "I want to," he began, frowning as he adjusted his bag. "But... Well, I don't really know what the hell t' get her." As Yugi blinked, the blond continued, shrugging. "Fact is, th' only things she really openly likes that I know of are her brother an' those dragons of hers... So I don't think there's anythin' I can give her. Not in terms 'f somethin' she doesn' already have at least..." Which sucked really bad. Really, really really-

 

Damn it, why the hell did he have to think about these things now? Life was so much simpler when he was only worried about squinting at pixels on a screen... So much simpler...

 

Yugi merely smiled, shaking his head. "Well, there's still time left..." He gave a reassuring smile, still looking up as he somehow manoeuvred his way around other passing people. "I'm sure you'll find something Jonouchi-kun!" The blond nodded, before frowning as they turned the corner. 'Kame Game' was clearly in sight now, the oddly built store and home standing out among the usually uniform buildings fairly easily. However for all that stood out, there was on thing in particular that caught his eye for the moment.

 

"Hey... Yugi?" he asked, stopping for a moment as he looked at the boy's driveway. "Whose car 's that?"

 

"Hn? Car..?" Yugi slowly looked back at the driveway himself, before stopping as well. It was just a normal, slightly out-dated car. Maybe a scratch on the side from a car door scraping into it, but otherwise just a normal car. Apparently this 'normal car' more than caught Yugi's attention however, as the next few moments were silent. "That's..." Yugi stared, before suddenly bolting for the shop door and pulling it open.

 

"O-Oi, Yugi," he shouted, charging after the boy. W-What the hell? What was so important about the car? He ran into the shop, door shutting loudly behind him as he followed after his friend. The shop was of course 'closed'. Lights off, door only unlocked for the convenience of those living there, and- "Yugi, what's goin-" He stopped, watching as Yugi stared at a middle aged man standing in the store in shock. Um...

 

Who the hell? "Ah..." The man turned from where he had apparently been looking over some papers, blinking before adjusting his glasses at the sight of the boy. "Ah- Yugi," he said, slightly shocked expression replaced with a soft smile. "I was just- Goh!"

 

He winced, suddenly thrown back slightly as the boy just about tackled him around his waist. Dad!" Yugi grinned, before pulling from the hug as his father ruffled his hair. "Haha... I thought you were going to be out of the country..." Wait, what? Katsuya stared, taking a hesitant step forward as he registered what was going on. This... This was Yugi's dad? He blinked, before noting that despite the lack of blond, the man's hair was indeed tipped with red. Really damn short, which was probably a good thing for a guy that looked like he was in business... But still tipped with red.

 

The man in front of him laughed, scratching his head and looking down at his son with a large smile. "Well, I could hardly just ignore the holidays... I managed to get the next few two weeks off of work, so here I am!" As Yugi continued to grin at the fact, his father's smile faded slightly, confusion replacing it as he noticed Katsuya's presence. "Oh," he began, blinking as he looked back at his son. "And who is this?"

 

Yugi turned, before smiling and gesturing over to Katsuya. "Ah... This is Jonouchi-kun," he said, the blond in question coming over with a nod. "He's my friend from school!"

 

Katsuya smirked, bowing his head as he looked over the just barely taller man before him. "Er... Nice t' meetcha Mutou... san." Wow. Never thought he'd see anyone in Yugi's family taller than him.

 

The man before him bowed his head in response to the greeting, also smiling. "Very nice to meet you," he repeated hands folded in front of him. "It's good to see that Yugi is making friends," he continued, smiling. "I was a little worried that he would end up caught up in some game that my father showed him," he added with a small laugh, Yugi flushing slightly in response. He kind of had after all. Eight years on a puzzle being the most obvious example. "Now then..." He turned to the boy, still smiling. "I need to talk to your mother for a moment, but I'll be right upstairs alright?"

 

Yugi nodded, watching as his dad vanished up the stairs before the room fell silent. Huh. "So..." Katsuya looked down, blinking as the boy turned back to him. "That's yer dad huh?" He could... Kind of see the resemblance.

 

Kind of. Yugi nodded yet again, still grinning as he moved further into the house to help Kastuya grab his things. "Yeah... I didn't think he'd be here," he said with clear excitement, pulling the long since prepared suitcase out from where it had sat in the hall. "He normally has to work over Christmas, or something comes up... This is great! I mean, getting to spend time with my Dad like this is-" He quickly stopped himself, expression fading. Apparently, he'd just realized how awkward the conversation could be for someone who didn't quite have the chance himself. "Erm..." He coughed, holding the suitcase over. “Anyways... Here's your suitcase, Jonouchi-kun... Tell Mokuba and Kaiba-san I said 'hi', alright?" Hahaha, because that would work well in the case of the latter right?

 

He took the suitcase, smiling wryly as he turned toward the door. "Will do- Thanks Yugi," he said with a nod, the boy giving a similar nod in response.

 

"No problem! I'll see you tomorrow alright?" Another nod, Katsuya pushing the door open and walking outside. Yep. School tomorrow, and for another few days...

 

What was it, thursday? So he had work tomorrow night then... The door clacked shut behind him, Katsuya slowly making his way back to the house with his suitcase in hand. Yeah. He stretched, looking back at the game shop for a moment before smiling again. Well... Looked like Yugi was getting his entire family together for Christmas then. He never knew the guy's dad was working out of the country... Huh. Seemed everyone was getting together with their families. It was nice...

 

...How was his dad doing?

 

Katsuya frowned, stopping for a moment as the thought came to mind. He hadn't visited him since he heard about his arrest. Inconsiderate yeah, but there was a lot of baggage to unpack there after all. On the one hand, as far as he could feel it was still his _Dad_. He had good memories of the guy before the divorce- it was just...that time just before it, and the steady spiral afterward that soured it all. There was more time spent with his drunk father than there was happy memories- it was enough to give anyone reason to simply sever all ties without any love lost.

 

But the fact was they were putting him through rehab from what he'd found out- even if he'd put some effort into visiting, he wasn't supposed to go see him back when the arrest first occurred. Not for a while at least. So then...

 

What would he be like now? He'd had all those dreams of paying off the debts, paying off the apartment, the bills, so on so on, living like a real _family_ or at least half of one! ...Could there be hope there, then? Hell... There was no way he couldn't go see him sometime before the holidays rolled around now, right? There was a loud beep from the side, the blond jumping as Kaiba's car came up beside him. What the hell?

 

What was the car doing out in this direction? "...Eh..?" The driver's window rolled down, the surprise continuing as Isono's face became visible. "I..Isono?" What?

 

The man popped the trunk, gesturing to the car as the engine quietly hummed. "Not to be too blunt," he said with a small and humored smile, "But it looks as though you could use a lift." As Katsuya stared for a few moments, Isono gave him a wave, still smiling. "Go on," he said the blond in front of him still staring. "I can only wait so long, I'm picking up Seto-sama soon." Eh? So then KaibaCorp was this way?

 

...Huh. That was interesting. Katsuya nodded, pulling his stuff over to the trunk and dumping it in before closing the trunk with a clack. Well, this sure as hell made things easier. "R-Right..." He pulled the side door open and hopped in, laughing somewhat. "Er... Thanks f'r th' ride?" As Isono nodded and started driving with a smile, the blond frowned. "...Wait..." He shook himself, frowning. Isono was Seto's assistant, why was he... "...Why're you drivin'?"

 

The man at the front gave a small shrug, pausing at a stop sign before continuing through the street. "The regular chauffeur broke his leg unfortunately," Isono stated, turning the corner slowly before adjusting his sunglasses. "Apparently safety ladders aren't as safe as they seem, nor should three year olds be trusted with remote control planes."

 

There was a bit of silence, Katsuya blinking as the driver slowed to another stop in Kaiba-Corp's parking lot. "...Oh. Er..." So then... What, he'd been trying to get something on the roof? "That sucks..."

 

Isono chuckled, shaking his head with a small smile. "That's one way to put it," he said with a small laugh, pulling the keys from the ignition. "I can handle taking his place until the rest of the positions Seto-sama cleared are done though," he continued, looking at Katsuya through the rear view mirror as he spoke. "Interesting thing preventing him from being replaced by another chauffeur however... But shortly after she left for the Duelist Kingdom, a large number of requests to resign came in..."

 

The blond snorted, shaking his head. "Yea... I c'n guess..." Wonder how long it would be before any remaining were completely screwed over? He laughed at the thought, before moving to the side as a familiar figure came walking steadily through the main doors. "Ah... Here she is..." The blond clicked his seat belt in place, watching as the woman came closer to the car and Isono started the engine again. Huh.

 

She didn't look too happy. The door was pulled open, Seto shutting the door beside her and not even sparing the blond a glance as she fixed a glare at the back of the seat in front of her. "Domino Elementary," she said curtly, the briefcase sitting beside her as she crossed her legs. Huh. Really. Unhappy. Hell, it looked like she didn't even know he was there! That was new.

 

...What the hell happened?

 

* * *

 

What happened to say the least, was something that was a little difficult to concisely describe. There were very few things outside the obvious that actually angered Seto to that point, and for the most part anything concerning KaibaCorp wasn't one of them. Work was not something that Seto Kaiba actively avoided after all. Indeed, it was quite likely that due to preferences in solitude it was something she preferred. Her brother certainly noticed that, and had voiced at some time during their flight back to Tokyo the question of her even returning to Highschool at all for that reason. ' _Maybe I was a little too fixated,_ ' he had said with a shrug, staring out the window as they flew back. ' _I mean... About the whole 'normal life_ ' _thing... Us going to school like normal kids..._ ' She had remained silent as he spoke, focusing on both staying awake for the flight and on the words that her brother was giving her. _'But you know,_ ' the boy had continued, smiling, ' _Maybe, even though it's not really 'normal', we can just go with what comes in life... ...Besides,_ ' he had added with a laugh. ' _You still want to look after KaibaCorp, right? To make 'Kaibaland', like we dreamed before..._ ' Yes...

 

She did. Seto leaned back in her chair at the thought, rubbing her head before thinking back to when she landed the helicopter. A calm and well placed landing on a brightly lit landing pad, the boy beside her giving a small thumbs up as he unbuckled his seat belt. Of course, shortly after that she found out their stow-away had left- it certainly made discussing the entire matter difficult, especially when she had had to make adjustments for a dangerously over-filled helicopter in the first place. But then at least the woman hadn't overstayed her 'welcome' in leaving so quickly as well. Things after that had been dealt with swiftly after all, with Mokuba coming with her to first get the blond moron the boy hired into a hospital, and then when storming her company building to set things straight. Papers were filled, forms were signed, and slowly but surely things returned...mostly. To normal.

 

She liked her job, she really did.

 

But why, of all the damn issues to come up before she went back home to get her brother from school, did this have to happen? "Damn lawyers..." It figured that her 'legal advisor' from the board of directors would put his skills to use and just manage to get these papers to her before she threw them out of the building. Papers detailing a fairly annoying and completely flawless defense that just had her recalling quite grimly why Oka had been one of the few to keep relatively the same job style as he had under Gozaburo's hire. He was a legal advisor for a reason; and while she had ordinarily gone with her own judgment, he was still damn good at weaseling his way around matters.

 

And it showed.

 

How the hell he made a loophole that prevented his own boss (Namely herself) from interfering she had no clue... ...Rather, she didn't want to particularly go into the details for the moment. It would probably save her the headache, not to mention pressing the matter would probably take more time than the matter described in the documents to begin with. Even so she slammed the papers back on her desk, gritting her teeth as the neatly typed words pounded against her skull.

 

' _In the event that termination of employment is to occur, the following members of project 'VR-18' must receive the approval of the current CEO for the product under development in the aforementioned project for release, prior the notice of termination..._ ' And so on, and so on, and damn it the only 'members' mentioned just happened to be those five!

 

Who just so happened to be getting their hands 'dirty' for once, as apparently they had insisted on doing the project themselves! And of course...

 

' _Due to the current progress of project 'VR-18', any and all attempts to alter staffing in the aforementioned project will be rejected.._.' In the words of a certain 'dog'; FUCK. She stowed the papers in her desk drawer, locking it securely before grabbing her suitcase to leave the building. The work day was over. While she normally had a bad habit of staying there far beyond the 'limit', the fact was there was not much else she could really focus on for the moment. Now she couldn't fire the bastards until they finished programming whatever virtual reality program they were developing, she couldn't go in and ask what the hell it was supposed to be, couldn't simply switch the workload around and be rid of them that way...if she tried, it'd cost more money and time than just _waiting_ would. And of course until they actually had the devices set for the program done, she couldn't well test it herself. And of course, with that in mind the stupid forms specifically said that it wasn't a matter of glitches, it was a matter of the entire thing being trash or not, which meant she legitimately had to go through this with a fine-tooth comb when she did get to it rather than calling them out on a computer error.

 

"Ghhh..." Lights were turned off in the office, and a curt nod was given to the secretary in her lobby. Few things had remained untouched in her absence... Thankfully, a small number of her more personal staff were in that group. Seto waited somewhat calmly for the elevator, walking in and watching as the doors shut with a silent click. This was complete bullshit. Complete...

 

 _Aggggh.._. It really did figure that this would happen. The elevator hummed to a smooth stop at the ground floor, Seto making her way through the main building's lobby and pushing the door open to spot the familiar shape of the car she'd come to work in. Well. At least someone was on time...

 

Not that it helped her mood much. She walked over to the car with a silent growl, opening the door and hopping in as the sound of the engine starting met her ears. Slamming the door beside her shut as the briefcase was put to the side, she simply muttered ' _Domino Elementary_ ' before leaning back in her seat with narrowed eyes. Time to pick up Mokuba. Hopefully he didn't catch her mood, not that that was likely. Damn it... The woman rubbed her head for a moment, silently groaning as she mentally went over the legal documents in a still failing attempt to find a loophole. "Why can't the Board just roll over and die already," she muttered under her breath, before an answer from the side jolted her from her thoughts.

 

"I dunno," a familiar blond muttered, the teen giving a dismissive shrug as the woman beside him turned to stare. "Personally, I would kinda expect 'm t' be dicks about gettin' fired..." He turned, blinking before hesitantly continuing. "Er... That's what this 's abou' righ'?" Seto merely glared, arms still in the same partially crossed position they'd been in when she got in the car. Ignoring the fact that he was dead-on with the likely reason...

 

"What are you doing in my car?" she growled, changing the subject over as Jonouchi gave another shrug.

 

"Eh..." He leaned back against the seat, smirking. "Not my fault he d'cided t' pick me up..." 'He'? Seto raised an eyebrow at that, bringing her arms down to her sides. Why the hell would her chauffeur, any of her chauffeurs, bother with picking up this moron?

 

Isono's voice came from the front with that thought, the second eyebrow raising to join the first one in mild surprise. "I trust the day went relatively well Seto-sama?" he asked, the woman behind him merely blinking. Now hold on, since when was the man that worked in an office beside her own sitting in a car when he should have been-

 

"Isono," she asked, frowning as she shook the surprise off. "Why are you driving?"

 

The man sighed, before waving his hand. "Ah... Yes well. In your attempt to filter out all employees," he began the two in the back listening quietly, "You managed to fire off all but one of your chauffeurs from those who bothered to stay behind once you woke up. This normally wouldn't be a problem," he added in the mentioned chauffeur's defense, "But you see..."

 

Jonouchi coughed, Seto turning to him with a blank stare as the blond finished for her assistant. "Ah... He kinda broke his leg," he started with a frown, scratching his head. "W's tryin t'... Get somethin' off th' roof," he added lamely, the woman beside him frowning.

 

"...What was he trying to get off my roof?" she asked, the frown deepening slightly. One of her few employees were injured and she hadn't been told about this? ...On her roof?

 

Why the hell was he even on her roof in the first place?

 

At the front, Isono shook his head. "You misunderstand," he stated with a short cough, Seto turning her attention back to the front. "This only happened early this afternoon- I believe he was trying to get his son's plane off his garage?" Which would explain why he broke his leg and not his neck...

 

Jonouchi shrugged, shaking his head. "Ehh... Don' ask me," he said plainly, leaning against his seat. "You're th' one that told me..." He coughed, before turning to Seto with raised eyebrows. "Nyh... Anyways. Why you heading t' Mokuba's school, he forget something there?" Hnn? Seto frowned, looking back at the blond. What did he mean 'forget something', Mokuba finished school in ten minutes...

 

"You don't think I should be picking up my brother," she asked incredulously, expression still set in a small glare.

 

The blond blinked, also frowning. "Wait... He didn' tell y'?" he asked, scratching his head. At the blank expression he got in response, Isono chose to explain from the front.

 

"Mokuba-sama returned from school over two hours ago," the man stated with a cough, having evidently forgotten to mention this glaring fact. Seto's eyebrows rose slightly in response, the woman turning her attention to the rear view mirror. "I believe his exact words were 'I won't miss anything for the next two weeks, and I would like to catch up with my older 'brother''." There was some audible 'quotation' around that last word so to speak she noticed. Probably exact words to the teacher, but even so.

 

He wanted to spend time with her that badly? But she had work, and-

 

Jonouchi smirked from beside her, Seto frowning in response. Alright, what the hell were they plotting... "Oh yeah," he said with a grin, leaning slightly on his school bag as the glare Seto held intensified. "R'minds me... Mokuba told me t' tell yah that you've got th' next two weeks off f'r th' most part..." What. "Said t' check on things on th' 24th, but otherwise yer on 'house arrest'! Hehehehe..."

 

She stared, narrowing her eyes as she registered those words. House a- "I'm being forced into my own house..?" Again. What? Really, what was... T

 

here was a nod, Jonouchi's grin still in place despite the mood the woman beside him currently held. "Yep! Chris'mas is comin' up after all," he added, looking out the window briefly as they came up to the house. Yes, in a few days. The number of flyers concerning 'Omisoka' were beginning to get a little too much on her nerves in fact, and it was only a slight comfort that they'd be gone in just another week or so. "Y' outta relax," Jonouchi was continuing somewhat dismissively, opening his door as the sound of the trunk popping open came over the air. "Not like th' company's goin' anywhere righ' now..."

 

Haha, how cute. It was certainly going nowhere save 'up' now that she was awake at least. All rather interesting how Pegasus had magically disappeared once she'd officially gotten off her 'sick leave' and made to call the moron, but it seemed that combined with that, her return had at least resulted in the stock going back up again. Funny that. Regardless of the fortune brightening however, she'd rather not leave the company in the hands of the damn board!

 

...Though now that they were preoccupied with what was likely to shape into an obvious act to delay the inevitable... Well...

 

She sighed, deciding not to answer to that particular comment on her company and instead getting out of the car as Jonouchi pulled his things from the trunk and slammed it shut. It could be worse. And besides, didn't the 'mutt' himself say it months before? Loathe as she was to admit, he had a point. _'Always time for family_ '. She owed at least that much to Mokuba after all. Seto walked over to the door, Jonouchi following behind her as she opened it wide. ' _Tadaima_ ,' the blond behind her shouted as they came into the foyer, Seto wincing slightly before fixing him with a glare. Loud enough...

 

"Eh..." The blond shrugged, grinning somewhat sheepishly. "Sorry abou' that Seto-ch-" AH.

 

"Don't finish that sentence," she stated dangerously, Jonouchi nodding as he bit his lip. The glare remained fixed for a few moments, before she turned away. She swore it, if he came close to calling her that again...

 

"Nee-sama!" a voice called from the side, pulling her attention to the front stairs. Ah- "Katsuya-nii!" She winced momentarily, before walking in to put the briefcase down as Mokuba ran down the stairs. The 'nii'... She had yet to ask about that. She should probably do that soon. The boy ran over, Seto giving him a light hug before grabbing her briefcase again.

 

"Obviously I don't have to pick you up from school," she muttered somewhat dryly, briefly turning as Jonouchi disappeared to the coatroom. She turned back, looking down at her brother somewhat blankly. "...You pulled yourself out of classes?"

 

Mokuba gave a dismissive shrug, still smiling at the question. "Eh..." He put his hands in his pockets, walking beside his sister as she as well made toward the coat room. "I already knew the stuff in that unit anyways..." Oh did he now?

 

As Seto raised an eyebrow, the boy beside her merely smirking. "Hehehe... I got bored and read ahead... I'll be fine, trust me!" Hnn. That expression was almost similar to someone else she knew...

 

Damn it. "Alright..." Well, it was only one week at least. The briefcase was again placed on the ground as she took her coat off, hanging it up and turning back to the boy. "So?" she continued with crossed arms, ignoring the fact that Jonouchi was quite obviously only there to listen now. "What exactly do you have planned now that you've pulled me out of my job?" Let him listen, not like this was anything private... She did send him a glare though. Regardless of anything that happened, she would still treat the moron as deserved. And given that he was, as she said, a moron...

 

Her brother's grin grew, the boy just about humming with excitement at her question. "Well, I was thinking since Christmas was coming, we could celebrate," Shit. "And maybe before then just play games together like we used to, and go to the park, or maybe just go around the back yard and-" Well, this was certainly a laundry list wasn't it? Though aside from Christmas this wasn't anything terribly upsetting either. ...She could... Live with Christmas if it was a nice quiet dinner she supposed. She blinked, listening as the boy continued before sounds of chuckling came from the side. Tch. Laugh at her would the mutt... For all that she leveled a glare in Jonouchi's direction, it fell as Mokuba continued. "That reminds me," Mokuba had said, turning to the blond once he had started laughing. "Katsuya-nii, do you think that you could leave us alone for the next bit?" Hn? He was being kicked out of things? Now that was something she wouldn't argue with. As Jonouchi stared the boy continued. "Nothing personal, I just want to catch up you know?"

 

Instantly the grin returned, Jonouchi moving to leave the room at that moment. Wait, he was- "No problem," he said, giving a small wave as he carried his school bag off with him. "Brother sister time righ'?" Something like that. (Leave already.) He laughed again, before continuing off up the stairs. "Eh, I got homework anyways..." And since when did he care about that sort of thing? ...Since when did he agree with this kind of stuff anyways for that matter? "See yah later Mokuba, Seto-chan..." A-

 

Seto-chan! "Gh-" Seto narrowed her eyes, turning as the blond continued to disappear. "What did I just say about-"

 

"Hahahaha... N-Nee-sama..." The woman turned, holding her tongue as Mokuba rubbed his head. "Can't we talk to him about that later..?" Would it even be reversible after that?!

 

...Hahhhh, fine. She sighed, eyes closed briefly before watching as her brother grabbed the briefcase off the ground. "Alright," she muttered, tone softening. "So," she asked calmly, walking off with her brother to put the case in its place. "What do you want to do first?"

 

She supposed in the end, that bearing with the 'seto-chan' business was worth the smile on her brother's face.

 


	2. Rekindling

The next day had passed fairly quickly, similar to how the day before had gone by really. And the day before that, and the day before that... He couldn't help but feel it was a side effect of the upcoming holidays. Though perhaps it was just because of the usual issue of him zoning out through all his classes.

 

When Yugi mentioned his father, the topic went fairly hot of course- Honda in particular was a little surprised when the man was described as 'a little taller than Jonouchi', given the size of Sugoroku and Yugi himself. A number of other questions had come up as well; what did he do, why wasn't he ever at home, etc.. etc... (Businessman, travels for work, etc etc.) By the end of it he was walking back home on his own, putting his things away back at the house, and going through his once more camera-oriented security shift- all before he even realized the day had really happened.

 

There was nothing much on the screens as usual. Seto had of course taken down any and all cameras in her room after getting back, replacing the lost feed with the formerly missing hallway and window camera. Friday night had passed with no event, the Kaiba siblings both having disappeared to the same rec-room he himself had spent a fair amount of time with Mokuba in. Watching the two for a moment before looking over the other screens he had to smile really. Aw. They were just so...

 

Erm. Damn, he couldn't use brotherly since Seto was a girl, but sisterly obviously didn't apply for the reverse reasons... He shook it off, leaning back on the chair and pushing the renewed ponderings on the 'right word' to the back of his mind again. Eh, whatever, he'd always know what he was talking about at least. Saturday had passed without incident as well- it was his double shift day, the afternoon first and the night shift after. Seto and Mokuba were both out of the house that time, same with Sunday, his current shift. As to where they were, who knew. They came back late Saturday, Mokuba going straight to bed while Seto seemed to hover between leaving for her study (from what he got while glancing at the hallway feed) and just turning in herself.

 

She ended up disappearing off screen to her room at the end of things, which was something that had him sighing in relief. While he hadn't given it much thought before, when he was on camera duty and Seto was busy with what was probably Death-T, she'd spent hours in the study room. Probably falling asleep in there even, though generally Hobson would show up at the door and shortly after Katsuya would wind up watching a slightly half-asleep Seto go back to her room. All in all it was thus not too bad a weekend he'd decided as he headed to his room with the end of the shift. He actually got some homework done too!

 

...He just hoped his mom didn't see any of the marks that came back with that. He didn't have to understand the class to know when he...wasn't going to understand enough to get more than a bare passing grade. If that.

 

With the weekend out of the way however, Monday came with pretty much the same thing that Friday and Thursday had. Which was to say that class was boring, and Christmas was on everyone's mind. Bakura had apparently gotten Honda to let him in on the 'voluntary' toy drive, having offered to make a number of figurines for the effort; an effort that had him more than occupied for the moment, and would probably have him occupied for the days before the holidays. Anzu in the meantime was staring at a google-maps printout she'd gotten from a library, lacking a reliable printer of her own. Apparently she was meeting Mai at the woman's house rather than at the station, but given Anzu's expression, wherever the house was in Kyoto it was obviously some place unexpected. Not that he'd gotten a look himself- pretty much anyone who came near had quickly earned a warning glare as the papers were stowed away out of sight.

 

And of course, Yugi was as happy as ever to simply chat with his best friend on whatever topic hit Katsuya's interest at the given moment. Though now that he was walking home alone, 'whatever came to mind' ended up being the same thing he'd wondered the week before. He hadn't given it much thought after Isono picked him up the other day- he'd kinda been distracted by trying and failing to think of a present for Seto, and it looked an awful lot like he really would fail at that endeavour. His dad however...

 

It was Monday now, and he didn't have work. The only reason he wasn't with the others in fact, was because Anzu _did_ have work, Honda and Bakura were doing the voluntary toy-drive (Or whatever else Honda had been signed up for), and Yugi was helping his Grandpa get out of the hospital. Which therefore left Katsuya alone, and his mind wandering.

 

What if he could visit his dad now? He had enough change for a subway now these days. Despite not having much more money on hand than before, he sure as hell had more than when every cent went into paying off his dad's bills! It was still even more than when there'd been a break between loan-shark runs, though that in itself had been rare. His thoughts clouded the more he thought of such timgs, and yet despite the steadily darkening mood there was something he couldn't ignore. "...Hn..." He missed his dad. Well, 'not-drunk' dad at least. They were moments that had grown fewer and farther between as time passed but just as his mind dwelled on those moments, his mind couldn't help but drift to the times that were better. Back when he was a kid, and when all that he ever had been was 'dad'. Dad, smiling, helping him to ride a bike, helping him to throw a fake punch...

 

A smile came over his face, Katsuya staring at the ground at the thought. Those were good times. The kind of times he'd wanted to have by paying off his dad's debts, getting rid of the source of the 'problem', the thing that had the man reaching for the bottle.

 

Their debts were paid off now. His continued work was if anything an excuse- a self-perpetuating cycle that generated a need for rent, and a method to pay it. But his Dad... The blond nodded to himself, fishing out some change before changing his course for the nearest subway. It was settled. He knew where the facility his dad was located at was by this point. He would visit him! After all- If his dad was really a dick, he wouldn't have stayed where he was for all those years right? And his dad wouldn't have been with his mom for too long... The man never drank that much until after the divorce after all... It was just those few times that had pushed the envelope, and in the end it all snowballed from there.

 

They were excuses in the end. All paper-thin, and rose covered. But as he jogged down the steps to the entrance thinking about the reality of things, he couldn't bring himself to turn around. When the snowball rolled downward, it had taken with it an avalanche. Nights outside the apartment increased, along with the bag of cans on the side- his dad never did too much harm to him until the end really... The broken arm was the most serious it had ever gotten and he'd still been weak from the night at the one professor's house with Shadi. Falling over the edge of the stair railing, that sure as hell wasn't intentional; he'd just been avoiding a hit... And gravity took over. And the fights had increased, and the defenses rose high...

 

He wouldn't need those anymore though. Katsuya found a free ticket booth, punching his change in and moving through to the station itself with a determined nod. Time had passed for both of them- his dad had to be different, even just a little! Just give it time, and things would get better. The words repeated in his mind like a mantra, even as a quiet reminder slipped in with it. If he was no better...if he was as bitter and desperate as he had been before being arrested Katsuya wondered, his fists tight at his sides, then he wouldn't have much choice but to leave. Leave, and never look back.

 

The blond sighed as he crammed his way into the subway, grabbing a nearby pole and waiting for the right stop as a number of people were crammed in around him and the vehicle started moving. Two years- that was how long his dad going to be in there from what he'd been told. By that time he'd be seventeen and it wouldn't make any sense to move back in any more. Chances were in fact, that they would become either a crutch, or a hindrance for the other to move forward.

 

It didn't mean he couldn't _see_ , however. See if there was a chance that things _could_ get better, _could_ potentially turn toward those dreams he had in the immediate wake of the divorce. If he could even say 'hi'. Just visit, spend holidays together, share phone calls...

 

The subway moved quickly through the city, the scenes of the tunnels or buildings around blurring through the window as he kept an ear open for the right stop. It didn't take long for him to reach. The subway doors clicked open with a short 'hiss', a swarm of people making their way in and out as with all other stops before it. Worming his way through the crowd and out of the station, he shifted his hold on his bag before shaking himself. Man. He was never getting over how damn cramped the subway was, seriously. Anyways...

 

The detention center was just a bit north from here wasn't it? He swallowed, scratching his head as he looked at the street he was on. Right, so it was a bit of a ways to walk but... Eh. He'd gone further. Much further, in fact. Regardless of what the distance was he took off, hands in his pockets as he thought back to the reason why he was doing this in the first place. It wasn't as if turning back would do anything but waste his money after all. He had to wonder though- how _would_ his dad take things? After all, while he literally couldn't contact the man for a time, that time had long since passed- and his dad had to know that. If his dad _was_ bitter when he greeted him...

 

Would it be justified? The blond bit his lip, shaking his head. Whatever. He couldn't think about that, not right now. The point was that he was here Today, and that he was going to see how his Dad was regardless. He would just have to make his judgments from there. And now that the detention center was in view... He let out the breath he'd been holding, moving forward after a moment. Here went nothing...

 

* * *

 

If there was one thing he could find solace in from that visit, it was this.

 

"Ahhhhh, Katsuyaaa!" His dad had not changed one bit for the worse, and any changes he _had_ made were undoubtedly positive. Katsuya smiled somewhat sadly as the man on the other side of the glass grinned, holding the phone up to his ear. The guard at the side said ten minutes- and it was obvious that even ten minutes was worth it to his old man after over half a year of nothing. "Oh..." The man brought a hand to his head, before gesturing through the glass. "What happened to your head?" he asked, shaking his head as the teen brought a hand lightly to the injury in question. With the hair still awkwardly clipped from the area, it was more than obvious even after the bandage had been removed. "This...this is my fault, isn't it, oh..." W-Wait, he thought he did this?

 

He laughed slightly, scratching the side opposite his injury with a grin before shaking his head. "It's nothing dad..." Anything that had happened back in the day was more than healed over- This wasn't his doing by a long shot. "An' it ain't yer fault, trust me!"

 

The man nodded as his son reassured him of this, his frown softening into a more worried expression. "I can't tell you know," he muttered sadly, the teen across from him frowning in response. "I did lots of things, horrible things to you Katsuya, and even then it's just such a blur...” The lapse in memory was somehow expected- upsetting, but expected. It was difficult to hide the saddened expression as it fell with his dad's words. “It's good your friend moved you out, it really is..." It both was, and wasn't, if he had to say his piece on it. On the one hand, it somehow meant they were both moving 'forward'.  
  
On the other, if it had only not been necessary... Katsuya attempted to smile, shaking his head. "Forget about it Dad... It's nothin', honest! 'Sides," he said with a somewhat forced laugh, the smile growing slightly. "All yer debts are paid off, an' when y' get outta here, you'll be clean righ'?" The smile grew more honest with those thoughts, the blond adjusting his seat with a grin. "Y' won't ever have t' worry about it again! Thing's 'll be like they used t' be!"

 

Another nod, the man giving a few eager nods before smiling. "That's right!" he said, grinning and laughing somewhat hoarsely at the reminder. "That's very right... Never again!" The chuckling faded, and he continued on. "...Katsuya?" he asked, leaning forward with a slight grunt. "Katsuya, I need to know... Did you see your sister? Is she alright? Is she..." Ah.

 

...Almost like they used to be, he supposed. There was a lot that couldn't be undone, and a lot more that simply couldn't be forgotten. Katsuya blinked as he considered the man's question, recalling 'in answer' the words he'd heard on the phone a while before. ' _Don't tell otou-san that I called, alright Katsuya-niisan? I just... Well... '_ Well.

 

There was a reason why Mom had left after all. The blond swallowed, before nodding with a slightly forced smile. "Y-Yeah," he said, nodding as he held true to his words to the girl. He could share this much. There wouldn't be harm in that. "She's... She's doin' fine!" He just couldn't mention the phone call, that was all. He could at least tell the guy that she was alive and well right?

 

The man across from him sighed in relief, shaking his head with the 'news'. "I'm glad to hear that," he said with a smile, the words being all he needed to hear. "She has your mother's eyes that girl, I'm sure she'll be a real knock-out when she's older! Hahaha..." Loud and cheerful laughter faded out just as quickly as it had come, and he again sighed. "You take good care of her understand Katsuya?" he said seriously, tone jumping from nostalgic to humored to severe within a few instants. "She's a good girl," the man continued, "You take care of her!" He nodded, biting the inside of his cheek. He did the best he could but...

 

She kinda lived in Osaka. Considering where he was though, these weren't words that he intended to simply push aside. "No worries dad," he said with an honest smile, nodding as he matched his father's determined and serious stare. "I'll take good care 'f her... That's a promise!"

 

Again his father nodded, a look of relief over his face as he sank into a slouch on his stool. "That's good," he muttered with a sigh, smiling. "That's good..." He drifted off, before grinning as his eyes drifted past a small charm on the wall behind his son. "Oh! I almost forgot," the man stated, leaning forward on his partially crossed arms. "Katsuya," he said with a cough, a serious expression fairly similar to Honda's own 'wise man' look coming over his face. "As you know, it's almost Christmas..." Yeaaaah... Yeah it was. "And even though I'm not there, it's still a very special holiday..." Kay. Where was he going with this... "So, I expect you to find yourself a nice young woman and-"

 

PBB _BBTT WAIT_. "AAHHH...AHA- Dad..!" Katsuya held his face, going beet red. Not saying anything, not saying anything! Damn it it really was easier when he was just trading tapes with the guys! "D-don't you think that's a little bit... I mean hell," he said with a cough, "I'm living in the same house as an eleven year old kid right now!"

 

The man shook his head, arms crossed as the expression merely deepened into a frown of sorts. "That's no reason... No reason at all, there's hotels for a reason!" he 'protested', the teen across from him biting his lip. "Christmas is a time for people like you to have fun, and find someone they care about... And I want you to do the same, understand?"

 

He groaned, shaking his head. "Daaaad..." When it came to suggestions, 'Care' was one thing but 'fun' was... Ahhhhhhggg don't think about that... Just don't let those thoughts meet... "Dad, I'm fifteen..!” he hissed, eyes darting to the guard not far from them. Tapes and dreams aside, between the location and the one he was talking to, he wanted out from this conversation!

 

That wasn't happening though. "Ahhh, but that's almost sixteen," his dad said with wide eyes, before grinning oddly. "And besides, I know I wasn't much older when I had my first Christmas time...”

 

His hand connected with his forehead rather soundly, another groan coming through the air. "Mnnnnnnnggghhhh..!" Damn it, his face was about as hot as a pot of boiling water right now and probably just as red! "That's th' last thing I needed t' hear Dad! And b'sides that, I'm pretty sure no one my age, let alone her-"

 

He coughed, hurriedly cutting himself off as his father continued to laugh. Damn it. Much as he wanted to believe the old man hadn't heard that last part, there was no way he-

 

"Hahahahaha... HAHAHA!" His father howled, clapping his hands before pointing somewhat accusingly at the bot with a grin. "Ahhh, so you do have someone then? That's good! That's wonderful!" Going by technicalities sure it was but damn it dad, please shut up now... The man continued to laugh at the teen's reaction, nodding his head as the subject carried on. "Well, if you're spending Christmas with a woman, you're going to get her a present then right? Take her to a nice dinner, have a good time..." He trailed off, Katsuya growing redder and redder with embarrassment with a groan. Bad jokes aside, it was laughable enough that he could possibly treat someone to a 'fancy dinner' at this point. "You have to tell me though," his dad said as he lowered his voice, grin fading to a somewhat serious expression. "You have to tell me, what are you getting her?"

 

Katsuya blinked, coughing. Oh. Uh. He still didn't know. Damn it, why did the question have to keep coming up, he had like... Five days left now. "Er..." He coughed again, frowning. "I... I actually don' know yet..." Shiiiiit.

 

His dad nodded 'knowingly', sighing as the 'wise' expression again came over his face. "Hnnn... I had the same problem..." Er... He did? Katsuya blinked, watching as his father continued to nod across from him. "When I was younger," he stated 'knowingly', "I could never figure out what to get your mother, never... In the end," he said with a shrug, staring at the ground for a small moment in thought. "I would take her out for dinner. We would have some wine, some steak, and later we would take a nice picture to remember everything...and that much, would be enough..." The man trailed off, gaining a somewhat misty eyed look at those words while his son merely stared. Dinner huh.

 

Explained why he was so set on him taking someone to dinner he supposed. "Hahaha... Eh..." Something told him that would fail, horribly, and not just because of his limits. Pictures though...

 

...Yeah that probably wouldn't work either. Probably wouldn't get within two feet of her with a camera. And that was without the idea of trying to make her smile. "So Katsuya?" his dad asked, leaning in and pulling the blond from his thoughts. "Katsuya," he asked, the teen somehow knowing just what the next question was. "Just who is this wonderful young woman any-"

 

"Times up!" The two turned, an officer tapping Katsuya's shoulder as the statement came over the air. "You've had your ten minutes," she said plainly, the man across from them both sighing in response.

 

"Ohh," he said with a groan, pointing at the phone. "I can't just ask this question..?" The cop shook her head, and Katsuya nodded as the woman beside him fixed a stern frown. No arguing that, he supposed- though the cop at least seemed more sympathetic to the situation than not.

 

"It'll be fine dad... I'll see yah soon, alrigh'?" The man nodded, and Katsuya gave a wry smile as he stood up from his seat. "Bye Dad... An'... Merry Christmas!"

 

His dad nodded furiously, shouting through the phone as his son moved to hang up on his end. "Of course.. Merry Christmas, Katsuya!"

 

With a quick click the two were both cut off, nothing but muffled sounds coming through the glass as they were led away. One to his cell for the next year or so, and the other to the exit and the road outside.

 

Yeah. Merry Christmas...

 

* * *

 

Walking back to the subway in silence, Katsuya stared at the sky for a few moments as a few snowflakes started to fall. He couldn't deny the wash of relief that was still flooding over him. For all that had gone on, for all that had come to pass- he changed, but only for the better. He was alright, and he was smiling, and making dumb dirty jokes that had him choking the way one could only do when put on the spot by a proper parent.

 

He'd get better too. He'd get through this, and get out, and he knew it! And then maybe they could meet up with Shizuka and his mom, get a family picture together again like the ones in his-

 

The blond paused in the middle of the sidewalk at that thought, looking back down in front of him. "...Huh..." Speaking of pictures... Did Seto have any pictures of her own family? Like. Before Gozaburo, with her real dad? Mokuba said he never knew their mom but there had to be pictures somewhere right? He frowned, free hand stowed in his pocket as he thought that over. Yeah... She had to. Maybe not with her at the moment but...

 

Yeah... He smirked, nodding to himself as he continued. If she didn't have it, there was no way that the relatives she still had would have gotten rid of the pictures right? So he could definitely get them to spare a few, if he worked at it! All he needed was the address of her last family, and all he needed for that was her old last name! Hah! That would be-

 

Um. ...Shit. He started walking again, mentally rubbing his head. He needed her last name. But what the hell was her last name? Seto probably wouldn't tell him and even if she would, she'd sure as hell want to know why. The frown returned as he came into the subway station, walking over to the nearest machine and pushing some more of his change in. From what Mokuba said, they didn't end up with a real listed surname at the orphanage. They were just dumped there, all ties severed so it wasn't even bothered with. (It would probably make getting some photos easy though he figured- anything to keep them out of their hair right?)

 

So how the hell would he find it then? Damn it. The subway slid into the station, Katsuya pushing his way through to a safe spot to stand and watching as the doors shut. Damn it. Needed to figure out what that last name was. He could probably ask Mokuba of course, but he'd already said pretty clearly that he couldn't remember much from back then. The closest thing he'd gotten when he had asked out of curiosity, was that it had the 'ryuu' kanji in it, and how many had that in it? 'Ryuzaki' and 'Ryusaki' were both pretty damn common, and they both had 'Ryuu' right there at the start.

 

...Wait. The frown lightened, and as his stop came he stumbled out to the side through the sea of people before grinning. Most names had the kanji at the start of the name but... Mokuba said it was the _second_ kanji. And while he didn't pay much attention to this kind of thing, even he knew that not many last names had that style of kanji in the last half of the name! The grin grew, Katsuya pumping a fist as he moved to leave the station. "YES!" Yes! This was great! Now all he had to do was figure out the first one and find the name in the phone book before... Ah.

 

Huh. Right.

 

...Damn it. He didn't even know if the relatives Seto and Mokuba lived with for a while had the same last name. So it could end up being a complete waste of time in the end. Shit. "Ahhhh damn it..." He groaned, leaning against a wall at the side of the downtown street he'd come out on before shaking his head. Come to think, didn't Mokuba say they were related through their aunt? What were his chances of finding the same last name if it was through the aunt, who had probably taken her husband's name? Man... "Agghhh..." He crossed his arms awkwardly, bag hanging loosely in one of his hands as he rubbed his head with the other. He had to think, there had to be some way around this. Yeah they stayed with their aunt, but there was no way that he needed to look up that name right? There had to be

something tying the two families together, some way to figure this out.

 

...Damn it, he wasn't good at this kind of crap.

 

He continued running the kanji through his head, biting his lip. 'Ryuu', 'Ryuu'... Man, he was going to have his head stuck in the phonebook for days... And damn it, that neon sign behind him was starting to grate his nerves, buzzing in and out like tha-

 

He blinked, turning as he noted what building the neon sign in question was advertising. ' _24 Hour Private Internet-_ ' Oh.

 

...A net cafe then. Hnn. Katsuya stared, a small idea coming to mind. You could search for phone numbers and addresses online right? Really easily too these days. So maybe he could try that as well then... The blond searched his pockets, frowning as the idea formed in his mind. A net cafe wasn't something he'd ever been to, but hey, plenty of people used these right? Anzu had almost used one herself, before she realized her local one didn't have a working printer anyway. So it couldn't be too bad then, could it? Now. He had to at least have enough for half an hour in here...

 

He looked at the sign for a moment, an odd frown on his face as he counted over the change in his hand. Never thought he'd be standing outside one of these he thought, scanning around for the fares listing. Weird coincidence that he'd find one right when he needed it. He coughed, looking at the few coins in his pocket again. Well, not like he had a computer himself so... "Hundr'd, two hundr'd, three hundr'd..." Plus four hundred and... Two fifty yen coins. Huh. Five hundred yen. With that, he walked into the cafe, nodding to himself. Five hundred...

 

* * *

 

...He had fifteen minutes. Two of which were spent actually finding a computer and logging on; though he had to say, the whole floor-to-ceiling cubicle effect was definitely helping with the 'privacy' claim. Still. Besides the computers at school...

 

Damn, when was the last time he had the chance to actually really do anything on these? "Ehhh..." He frowned, pulling up the net browser and scratching his head. Whatever. Not like he really did much when he was signed into one anyways. Alright. So. He needed to find Seto's cousins (who were apparently assholes), but first he needed her last name. On top of that he was going to have to cross his fingers and pray that the last name still had a tie of sorts to those cousins. He bit his lip, trying the first thing that came to mind and typing it in. 'Kaseri' and... 'Ryuu'. Traditional stroke use. He paused for a moment, before adding in a date as well. Err...

 

Seto was 8 when she lived with her aunt right? Yeaaah... Enter in the year she was seven though, just to be safe. And with all that entered in, just hit 'Search' and- He blinked, eyes widening as the page loaded. Oh hey. He... He actually got a result! Technically a number of results, but there was only one truly 'relevant' one. Everything else noted that it didn't include 'ryuu', or 'kaseri'...the only one that had both was the 'top' result, from the local newspaper. But hey!

 

It was a result! He clicked the one matching link with a grin, only for the expression to crash once the page loaded and he read its contents. Oh... Shit. Katsuya swallowed, looking over the small page of newspaper with a wince. He hadn't expected much, but if he was to expect anything from that time point he truly should have known better.

 

This was an obituary. The blond looked over the picture above its contents, frowning. So that was... Seto's dad. Well. He winced, skimming the 'article' itself. He knew her last name now at least- 'Kouryuu'. It was fitting in a terrible way- 'Kou' used the character for 'harbor', suiting the rapid waters referenced in her own first name. Heh. He'd almost laugh if this wasn't so...

 

...Man. He shook his head, hand dropping from the mouse as he looked over the article. Of all the things he could get though. Why the hell did he have to find an obituary? Killed December 24th\- Christmas, how depressing was that it was Christmas!- hit head on by a semi-truck.

 

Dead on impact.

 

And that was how Seto ended up... ...Shit, he didn't want to read this kind of thing. "Ah..." He looked near the bottom, blinking as he got over the initial shock of the find. Where most of the entry had focused on the memorial, there was something else near the end; ' _...survived by his two children, Kaseri and Mokuba, his older sister 'Yamada Anne',_ ' Older s-

 

The aunt! He had the name then- Yamada! Hah! So that was the name! He closed the window, grinning despite the source of the information. Computer was closed down, school bag gathered up...

 

Man. Why the hell was it so easy to find that kind of crap? Hell if he'd found all that, what would happen if anyone actually bothered looking into Seto herself? The grin faded at that thought, the blond leaving the net cafe with both those thoughts and the last name in mind. It was unnerving to consider but if he thought hard...

 

Most people didn't know that she was a girl right? He adjusted his grip on his bag, shouldering it as he made his way down the street. Heck it wasn't even just a 'most' situation, that secret was so heavily guarded that only a bare minimum of her own staff knew- let alone the three or so people outside that circle. So there was no way that she'd be found out like that, right? He nodded, reassuring himself of that fact before looking for a pay phone. Yeah. No way! The blond made his way into a nearby booth, pulling up the chained phonebook and flipping through. Time for the next part- the easy part! "Kay... Yamada, yamada..." Couldn't be too many here right? The name wasn't... That common after all...

 

Pages were flipped down to the 'Ya' section of Domino's pages, before Katsuya groaned."Ah... Damn it." Three choices on... Three opposite sides of the area. Lovely. He scratched his head, looking over the initials. Alright, no big deal. Just pick them off with this then! Ehh... One was single, so that probably wasn't it. He brought his finger along the page, skimming it over. Katakana, there. And the one beneath it was completely kanji! Hah! "Thank...god..." Who ever was up there... Was giving him the best damn luck ever. Alright so where was he going to be walking then he wondered, looking across from the name and number. Katsuya slammed his head against the book, groaning again as he looked over the street number.

 

It was on the exact other side of Domino.

 

Why the hell did his luck have to run out now? "Ghnnn..." He looked over at the clock on the payphone mentally gauging the distance he had to make. Alright. It was only five in the afternoon, he still had time right? Maybe half an hour to get to the address from there? Yeah, he definitely had time!

 

...Who the hell was he kidding, if he didn't get back to that house Mokuba was going to be a pain. Be at least an hour and a half before he got back if he did that. Well... He tore the page from the book, stuffing it in his pocket before closing it over and leaving the booth. He could do this tomorrow at least, couldn't he? Maybe figure out what the hell he was going to say when he got there; sure as hell wasn't going to go asking about _Seto Kaiba_ while he was there. Heck, he didn't even know if the aunt was in on the secret to begin with, so that could be really awkward if it came to it! The blond rubbed his head, slowly making his way back to the house and rubbing his arms somewhat awkwardly. Man. It was cold... Kinda figured it would be, since it was December.

 

No snow though. Well. Not much anyways, given the light dusting that was beginning to gather on the sides as the snow fell. He shoved his free hand in his pocket, looking around the now glowing Christmas lights decorating the streets. As close as it was, they would probably continue adding even more until Christmas Day finally rolled around. He kicked a can nearby, continuing on his way with a shrug as the lights around continued to come to life in the now setting sun. Well... Hopefully no one was wondering where he was at least. He snorted at the thought, shaking his head. Yeah, the hell that would happen, he thought as he broke into a run.

 

Mokuba was going to be in his face so bad...

 

* * *

 

As it turned out supper had been delayed that evening; something about an accident in the kitchen involving an oddly strong crab that refused to be boiled alive. He sure as hell wasn't complaining given that this was another stroke of bizarre luck for him. And honestly between seeing his dad in jail and going into a net cafe he had been pretty much done for the evening; no homework was done that night, that was for sure. Well. If it was ever truly done anyway.

 

With all that luck, which included the teachers apparently forgetting to assign anything from the classes the day after, he still had to actually get inside the house that he was now walking towards at four in the afternoon. Not to mention convince whoever was there to cough up whatever the Kaiba siblings had been forced to leave behind, assuming something in that pile was a photograph. He didn't know what kind of stuff Mokuba and Seto had left behind after all- would they even want anything, photo or not? Would it still even be there? His personal hope was that there was a photo album of some kind to aim for, but what if they didn't even keep one? Where the hell would that leave him then?

 

He groaned, rubbing his head as he walked down the street with his bag again held hover his shoulder. School passed by pretty quickly despite his internal pleas for more time, not that the others hadn't noticed his particularly odd distracted state. Honda had jokingly asked about whether or not he really was dating, which he of course shouted 'no' to before ending up in a scuffle with the guy. Bakura had wisely just stood on the sidelines for that particular moment, and ended up talking to Anzu about what sorts of things she should see in Kyoto; apparently he'd been there with his dad a few years before.

 

Yugi in the meantime seemed particularly sympathetic of the odd silence that his friend held during most of the school day. Whether or not it was because he knew about the present issue or just because that was how he was, who knew. In the end it meant Yugi vaguely wishing him luck as the others shrugged it off, Katsuya himself heading off with a nod and a grin.

 

Which brought him here. The 'Yamada' family, listed under 'Yamada Gi – A' with the last character in katakana, weren't quite as far from the school as they were from the Kaiba home. In fact he could probably argue that the school was roughly half-way between the two, albeit on a weird angle. It was without a doubt was pure coincidence that they were in the same district of Tokyo at all; from what little Mokuba had remembered, the orphanage he and Seto had stayed at was well over in a separate end of Tokyo's special wards. Why they bothered driving off to the exact opposite end who knew. Best that Katsuya could guess, the relatives had wanted the pair out of their hair as quick as possible.

 

Not that it did much for them in the end he figured, adjusting the grip on his school bag. Katsuya stood in front of the small, average sized house as he double checked the phonebook page in his hands, clouded sky occasionally spitting out a few snowflakes to add to the dusted sidewalk and pavement around him. All luck. He'd probably gotten here on nothing but luck, like some twisted testament to the Duelist Kingdom. A wry grin was on his face as he stood there, squinting against the sunlight glaring from the windows. There was only one thing he really didn't like about all this really, and that was how damn easy it had been to find these people. Not to mention that he knew nothing about said people aside from the fact that they were apparently pricks when it came to their own relatives. What the hell was he supposed to do, nail them with the facts, or just sit tight like he had when talking to Tanaka?

 

Well whatever. He cracked his knuckles, stowing the phonebook page back in his pocket before going up to the door with a swallow. Here went nothing. Few knocks on the door... And now he waited.

 

Katsuya stuffed his hand back in his pocket, looking around at the house for a bit as the sound of muffled footsteps came from the other side of the door. It looked like every other house on the street. Two stories, and a small thin block with a garage. If he were to compare it to anything in fact, he would even say it looked similar to Honda's place- though at least Honda's place had a bit more 'character' to it than a cookie-cutter. He turned as the door opened, a middle aged and slightly gray haired woman answering the door and cutting his thoughts short. "Hello?" she asked hesitantly, grey eyes narrowed in a soon failed attempt to recognize the blond on her step. The woman held a neutral stare on her face, standing only an inch shorter than the teen before her. "...Is there something I can help you with?"

 

He nodded, swallowing. Alright, lets do this. "Eh... Yeah," he said coughing somewhat as he shifted his school bag again. "Ah... 'M a friend 'f Se-... 'F Kouryuu's, I was wonderin' if y' knew th'm at all..." Sheesh. It was one thing to avoid mentioning that Seto was a woman, it was an entirely new thing to hide the gender all together! But even he and Honda had referred to Anzu as 'Mazaki' in the past- the idea of someone casually referring to _any_ classmate by surname wouldn't have been out of the question. It would let the woman fill in the blanks on which cover to work with, and simultaneously keep him from being kicked to the curb right out. Hopefully.

 

Maybe not. The woman at the door tensed, briefly setting off alarm bells in the blond's head before she nodded slowly. "...I do," she said curtly, not even a trace of an accent in her voice despite her clearly foreign features. "Please, come in," she continued, standing to the side of the door before turning back with somewhat narrowed eyes. "What's your name?" Huh. Didn't expect that.

 

Katsuya walked in, watching the door close behind him before shrugging and taking off his shoes. "Jonouchi Katsuya," he said with a nod, putting his bag down at the side and sticking his hands in his pockets. "So... Y' know 'm both then?" Another nod, the woman gesturing to the side of the hall as she walked into the house. "I should think so... The Kouryuu's were my nephews," she stated, eyes flicking back for a moment in an attempt to tell if the term still 'applied'. No reaction was given from both side, Katsuya merely following the woman into a small living room of sorts. Alright, so no change then. Refer to Seto as 'male'. "I didn't expect someone to come to my home asking about them," the woman said almost suspiciously. "Just what do you need to talk to me about?" 'Anne' asked, lips pursed as she gestured to the couch. Er. Was this some twisted way of getting mad at him, she could always have kicked him out...

 

He mentally shrugged, taking a seat across from the woman regardless. "Nothin' much," he said, scratching his head. "Jus' wonderin' about their things... Se- Kouryuu didn' say much abou' you guys," the blond said with a shrug, eyes drifting around the fairly plain room. Briefly Anne's eyes seemed to narrow at his slip, but Katsuya pressed on. "But he- But 's brother said that they only went through adoption w' one suitcase, so I w's wonderin' if they left anythin' here. I figured, maybe they'd want it back y'know? That it migh' mean somethin'."

 

Anne continued to give the blond her subtle glare, crossing her legs as she adjusted her seat on the couch. "If they left anything... Well," she muttered somewhat offhandedly, "There might be a few things..." As she said this, Anne's tone remained just as cold and neutral as it had been with the mention of her relatives, glare seemingly intensifying as Katsuya swallowed. In truth, the expression was eerie. It was only a look, a 'glare' without any physical resemblance, yet he couldn't help but think to when he had first woken up to have Seto pointing a gun at him. It was creepy, and it set him on edge. "You would be correct to say that there could in theory be something that means something to them...However, I don't believe you have any right to those 'things'," she continued, somehow giving the impression that she was far taller than she actually was. "And if your friends truly needed them," Anne added, "Then perhaps they should have taken them with them, or come for those things themselves." Yeah, but see something told him that wasn't really their choice, was it.

 

Not even now. "Look lady," he muttered with a growl, his temper slipping quickly. "I ain't tryin' t' intrude or anythin... All I wanna know is if there's anythin' like a family album 'r somethin," he continued, gripping the insides of his pockets tightly. With the ease of breathing a half lie passed his lips, passion cloaking it into truth. "Even just a picture- he said his kid brother doesn't even know what their mom looks like, I figure it's somethin' they outta hav-"

 

"I think you've stayed long enough," Anne said calmly, cutting the blond off as she stood. Hang on what? The blond narrowed his eyes as the woman stared down at him, her arms loosely crossed. "Forgive me for pulling you in for what I thought would be a meaningful conversation," she continued with a noted trace of sarcasm, "When you came to ask about my nephews, I hardly expected to be grilled for their leave behinds. But if this is all you came for, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Tch...

 

Katsuya stood, glaring but nodding nonetheless and heading for the door. Maybe he'd pushed too much. It hadn't exactly taken a lot before he looked ready for a fight. But the bitterness stewed all the same, and he couldn't hide the scowl over his face. Lousy little-

 

"By the way," the woman continued, following after the teen as he grabbed his bag. "If you even think of attempting to disturb other members of my family with this pointless matter, I'll be calling the police to charge you with trespassing and harassment. I have your name after all." Wait what?

 

Katsuya's eyes widened, the blond turning for a moment from where he'd been putting on his shoes. This lady was going to charge him with...

 

It was easy to find the Yamadas. It would be just as easy for the police to come and find him, especially with his hair. He continued to stare, moving aside as Anne opened the door and allowed him out of the house. "You understand what that means of course?" she asked coldly, Katsuya merely standing on the steps a few moments with wide and clearly angered eyes. Though there was no answer, Anne did not seem to mind. "...Good," Anne said with a 'smile'. "I trust this is the last time we'll see each other then."

 

And with that the door was slammed shut, leaving Katsuya to stare almost bewilderingly at the door. 'Trespassing'? _Harassment?_ Was she serious about that? It was their stuff, she should be...

 

Alright so the lady had a point, he didn't have a right to go around asking, but it wasn't fair! She held those things back deliberately- and there was no way something didn't exist, with how she'd responded! The blond shook his head, turning away from the house and walking off with his free hand in his pocket. The woman had even claimed to have cared almost, speaking of a possibility of 'meaningful' conversation. It made him feel sick, and slimy even, the nausea failing to fade as he walked. Knowing his luck Seto would actually have to get involved to find a way around Anne's methods. Her stuff in there, not his after all; he didn't have any real defense in this situation.

 

But there was no way in hell that she would do that, and even if she had been willing to do so it would involve 'Seto Kaiba' meeting with old relatives. And that probably wouldn't work out too well, given that 'dear Aunt Anne' would have the perfect blackmail material with which to weasel her way back against the woman. He didn't doubt that Seto would be able to push back that sort of claim with ease- hell, maybe she could even handle discarding the disguise entirely.

 

It wouldn't come without a pile of hell and consequence that the siblings had obviously worked hard to avoid in the first place however, and he wasn't about to jeopardize what little peace they had finally achieved. "Agggghh..." But there was something there! Something, probably photos given how quickly she'd shut him down, and the knowledge was churning at him from the inside out. It was right there and yet there was nothing he could possibly do about it. He could take out four plus guys out in a fist fight within one round, out run a few trained mooks with guns, even stand against a full gang beating him with yo-yos of all things, but he couldn't fucking get a photo album from a middle-aged house wife that was shorter than him! He had to face the facts-

 

For all that had gotten easier in making as many friends as he had, having to worry about his friends made things a lot more complicated than he liked.

 

(And after all, Seto totally counted as a friend, right?)

 


	3. Penalty Game

It was December the 22nd now, and over the main and largest island of Japan a number of things were happening. A large number of things that mattered only to a handful of people in their own right, things that those around them could likely care less about. In a hospital in Osaka a young girl was beginning a slow recovery from a possibly dangerous if not only half as likely to have succeeded surgery, accompanied by her mother and a close friend. Bandages were wrapped firmly around the upper portion of her face, but despite the fact that she was unable to see the two at her bedside she was very much awake...

 

And praying. Only a few hours away in Kyoto, a young woman dressed far differently than what most who knew her would expect calmly walked back to her home from a scattered grocery trek with bags of noodles, eggs, and assorted vegetables for the next nights dinner, while glancing at a clock to the side. It was only a matter of time before the train left Tokyo, and she needed to set up the spare room for the next few days.

 

Even further from there was Tokyo, and while two siblings both spent well needed and well missed time together, one keeping the enjoyment of the situation buried as the other eagerly led the first through whatever was planned for the 'together time'. Not much further from the siblings within the same city, a close group of friends sat at a decently empty fast-food restaurant to talk about the holidays. The days for which each plan that these people had would roll into motion was drawing closer and closer after all; and it was only right that they spend the last few days before that moment celebrating themselves, before the holidays closed in completely. And just how would they do that for the moment?

 

By splitting an order of burgers and fries, what else? Idle chatter filled the air as they sat, a young uniformed woman coming over to the table as the teens at the booth looked through the menu. Most already knew what they were ordering of course; despite the 'Prisoner 777' incident, Burger World had long since become a regular place to sit and chat. Why bother doing that at a restaurant if they didn't eat? Favourites had long since been decided on, and as the waitress stopped by their table the group turned. "Have you decided on your order?" she asked, holding a small notepad in hand and looking the group over. "Just so you know, for the holidays all drinks come with free refills, not just fountain drinks."

 

The news didn't seem to phase the group, most of them just folding up their menus if they had opened them at all. "Yeeahhh," Honda said first, leaning against the window he was at and handing his menu to the woman. Somehow through some miracle of the gods, he had managed to escape his 'voluntary Christmas fun' for the evening. It was almost similar to how Katsuya had managed to avoid working for the evening. Almost at least. Given the fact that he openly detested the 'Christmas fun', Honda seemed more than pleased about his escape when comparing his holiday mood to the 'average' cheer that Katsuya held. "I'll just have a coke and a cheeseburger..." he muttered, giving a final nod.

 

"Same for me," Yugi said with a small smile. "But I'll have milk with mine," he added, handing his menu to the waitress as she nodded.

 

She moved to scribble a few things on his notepad, before looking at the one between the two boys. "And you?"

 

Bakura blinked, before handing over his menu with a smile. "I'll have some milk as well," he said quietly, bowing his head and looking to the side a moment. "Though I think I'll just have a basket of fries, with some gravy..." There was another nod from the waitress, before she looked across the table to the last two members of the group.

 

"Hmm... I think I'll take the fries too," Anzu decided, bowing her head politely. "A glass of coke for me." The waitress nodded, before turning to Katsuya expectantly.

 

"And for you sir?" she asked, folding her hands over in wait.

 

The blond blinked, before looking up from where he'd been staring out the window lost in thought. ...Wait him? "E-Eh?" He swallowed, shaking his head before leaning back on the booth seat with a grin. "Oh righ'... Iced tea an' a cheeseburger f'r me," he said with a nod, watching the waitress scribble this down.

 

"Alright," she said, bowing slightly before looking over the group. "I'll be back with your meals soon enough."

 

With that the woman left, leaving conversation to settle over the table once again. "Sooooo," Honda asked, turning to Katsuya with raised eyebrows and an odd grin. "How goes the 'present hunt' for this mysterious 'not date'?" Besides not well?

 

Katsuya groaned, before glaring at the teen in question with a sour look on his face. "Seriously man, don't even talk about that..." At all. Since he'd been iron-walled from the 'Yamada' house, he'd tried running over a number of possible Christmas ideas- including ideas that involved getting around the iron-wall. Breaking in had all but been locked out of mind given that Anne was quite clearly a stay-at-home mom, whose chances of actually leaving the property during the holidays were futile at best. And he had no doubts she really would have him arrested if caught. Or even _not_ caught- it wouldn't be hard to connect the dots after all!

 

He'd tried a few things after that. The first thought had been making an 'upgraded' clay Blue-Eyes, with the added detail of the 'Ultimate Dragon'- however anytime he thought back to the beast there were too many details to possibly recreate properly with nothing but clay. Not after what he saw in the Duelist Kingdom, and it was probably better that way. All other thoughts after that point had just as quickly gone down the drain, varying from either something that would get his throat slit- Blue Eyes... Plushie perhaps?- To something that would likely be thrown in the trash first chance that came up. (Maybe he could help cook the Christmas dinner, a sort of compromise from his Dad's suggestion! ...Yeah no.)

 

He rubbed his head, leaning back on the seat as those thoughts continued to run through his mind. Yugi in the meantime blinked at the news of continual failure, apparently genuinely surprised given the lack of news on the topic since that day. "Oh..." He stared, leaning over the table slightly. "...You're still not having any luck then?" There was nothing but a nod in response, and the boy frowned before turning away in thought. "Hn... There has to be something you can do then..."

 

Beside the blond Anzu merely shook her head, an odd look on her face as she turned to him. "No offense... But I'm still trying to get over you dating someone let alone going all out for Christmas myself..."

 

"Gh-" He glared, turning on the woman with a scowl. "I told you, I ain't datin' anyone! I'm jus' stuck on presents f'r someone!" The others laughed at the paper thin defense, Anzu merely holding her hands up in mock defeat as she smiled.

 

"Alright, alright," she said, before crossing her arms. "It would be nice to know who you're talking about though..."

 

Bakura nodded in agreement, shifting in his seat as the waitress came by with their food and drinks miraculously balanced on one tray. "That's right," he said as he grabbed his glass of milk, taking a small sip while the fries and gravy were placed in front of him. "It's rather confusing when you refuse to say anything. In fact," he continued, grabbing a few fries with the fork provided, "It's really only natural to assume you are dating someone... Ahahaha..."

 

The blond groaned again, before grabbing some ketchup to put on his burger. "Tch... Whatever," he muttered, leaning forward as he put the bun on top and started eating it. Drop the subject, drop the subject and- "Hey what abou' you Anzu?" he said with a renewed smirk as an idea came to mind. "Y' seemed pretty surprised about wherever it is you're goin f'r Christmas..." The grin grew, Anzu herself blinking from where she'd taken a few bites of her ketchup slathered fries. "Why don't ya share?"

 

The woman tensed, gritting her teeth before dropping the fry she'd been holding. "I think I have your point now," she muttered, taking an angry sip of her coke. "If you want to know so badly," she continued, turning back to her meal, "You should probably ask Mai yourself!"

 

Katsuya gave a 'defeated' shrug, still smirking as he continued on what was already the second half of his burger. "Heh, maybe I will," he said with a laugh, before taking another large bite of the burger.

 

Honda also grinned, his own burger already well close to being done if not mostly devoured. "Not before I do," he said with a laugh, the woman across from him merely shaking her head exasperatingly.

 

"Ahhhhhggg... What is wrong with you two!" Wh-What? Oh come on, it wasn't like that... Though it was still fun to mess with Anzu. The grins grew, Bakura and Yugi both laughing quietly as they watched the 'argument' continue between bites.

 

The laughing was quickly cut off on Yugi's part however when the boy turned to ask his friend something. Staring at the already empty platter that was now nothing but smeared gravy, he gaped as Bakura quickly downed the rest of his milk with a large smile. "B-Bakura-kun," he sputtered, looking back at his own barely half-done burger for a moment. Katsuya and Honda were one thing, given their normally large appetite but... "You already finished your food!"

 

Apparently, his was just as large then. Maybe larger. The albino turned, blinking. "Erm... Yes... Well..." He laughed nervously, rubbing his head as the others turned to stare at the platter themselves. "I tend to eat rather quickly, it's a habit of mine... Hahaha..." Yeah...

 

That platter was about the size of three burgers, so 'quickly' was definitely one way to describe things. Yugi merely continued staring at the platter with those words, before Anzu finally broke the silence. "Well," she said with a cough, waving a near-by waitress down. The woman came over, nodding as Anzu turned to her. "I'm... Going to need to take these fries to go," she admitted, grabbing a large number of bags that she'd taken with her as the waitress took off with a nod.

 

The others turned, Honda leaning on his arm with raised eyebrows. "Hn... You're already leaving Anzu?"

 

She nodded, the waitress quickly returning with a styrofoam box for her. "Yeah," Anzu said with a small laugh, carefully stowing the fries in the box before wiping her fingers off on a napkin and packing the box itself in one of her bags. She pulled out some change from her purse, putting it on the table to cover her meal. "I'm sorry guys, but I can't miss the train, it was hard enough to get a seat before hand with the holidays...I didn't realize what time it was..!" she laughed nervously. Oh right, she was heading to Kyoto today. They nodded, watching as the woman gathered up her bags and glanced at her watch. "I'll see you later though, alright?" A slightly longer look was given to Yugi with those words as she gave a quick wave, before leaving with a smile. "Merry Christmas everyone!"

 

The boys blinked as Anzu disappeared through the door, before turning on Yugi with a mix of smirks and a soft smile on Bakura's part. The boy was fairly red for the moment- Possibly more so than the ketchup on his burger actually, and there was no difficulty in guessing what the cause was. "Heyyyy, Yugi," Honda said with a grin, tapping the boy's shoulder as his friend coughed and continued staring at the table. "Hey Yugi, you alright in there?" There was no answer save a slight change of energy in the air, Honda pulling back as the familiar tells of a 'switch' between persona appeared. Hair rose on end, and with a few blinks a rather startled looking 'Other Yugi' appeared, eyes wide with slight confusion for the moment.

 

The boy looked around, blinking a few times before turning to them with raised eyebrows and an odd frown. "...Just what did you all do to him?" he asked somewhat incredulously, the blush from his 'other' quickly fading with his presence. "He won't say a thing to me!" Katsuya sniggered, shaking his head.

 

'Conversation' between the 'two Yugis' had become fairly common since the end of the Duelist kingdom, and though it had only been about a week they were all more than used to it by now. "I think y' wanna ask Anzu that," he said with a grin, laughing as Honda joined in the laughs with him. "After th' holidays at least... Hahah... Ahhh..."

 

"I think you're going to be out here for a while," Bakura added, scratching his cheek with a slightly sympathetic smile. "By the looks of Yugi-kun's face, I don't think he wants to really talk about too much right now... Actually," he continued with a cough, "I'm not even completely sure he _can_ say anything right now..."

 

The 'other' Yugi nodded with the words, blinking as he looked down at the puzzle with an apparently unimpressed stare. "I can tell," he said as he crossed his arms, before sighing grabbing the burger in front of him. He looked at it for a moment, nibbling the far end of it before dropping it on the plate with a small gagging noise. "Ghk... I don't think I'll be finishing his food for him though..." Hn? Katsuya blinked at the comment, before holding back another laugh as the boy stared almost disdainfully at the large amount of mustard on the burger. Hahaha, and thus the argument between the two went on... Yugi looked at the mostly full glass beside him as well, frowning. "...Or his milk..."

 

"Oh..." Bakura reached beside him, bowing his head hesitantly as his friend turned at the gesture. "Could I have the milk then?" As Yugi gave a nod, the albino took the glass and switched straws, taking a few quiet sips with a smile before bowing his head again. "Thank-you."

 

Yugi merely nodded again, crossing his arms. "Not a problem... I-"

 

"Oh shiiiit..." The three turned as Honda interrupted the boy, all blinking as a rather angry looking young woman began rapping on the window. Messy brown hair was topped with a knit hat, but despite the otherwise 'calm' wear the woman was in it was evident that she was out for figurative blood. "Oh shit, my sister..."

 

Katsuya stared, eyebrows raised as the woman was joined by an apparently equally unimpressed young man carrying Honda's nephew. There was Johji, still in his trademark duck kigurumi- and looking oddly pleased about the mood his parents were in. "She doesn't look too happy with y' Honda..." The blond turned to his friend, blinking. "What th' hell did you do?"

 

The teen coughed, lightly shoving past Yugi and Bakura with a red face and grabbing his school bag. "Er... I... Might have skipped out on some Christmas stuff to come out here..."

 

There was a hurried cough as he grabbed his coat off the bench, pulling it on while muffled shouts came from outside the glass. "You skipped?" Bakura repeated, frowning as he downed the rest of his milk. "But I thought you said you had today off..."

 

Honda merely groaned, the others jumping slightly as his sister began rapping on the window with a glare. ' _Get OUT HERE_ ,' she was shouting through the glass, the others looking at their clearly doomed friend with raised eyebrows. "Yeaaaaaah... Might have lied about that one... Just a little." A little?

 

That was one way to put it. The others continued looking out the window, Yugi blinking owlishly at the sight. "You should probably hurry," he said rather plainly, leaning on his arm and taking a bite of the fries still on his plate. "I don't think they'll stay outside much longer..."

 

"Man..." Honda again groaned, holding his head as he shouldered his bag. "I really don't want to go out there right now..."

 

Katsuya snickered again, turning to his friend as the rapping continued with apparent vigor. "Hehehe, and in a few moments," he added with a smirk, "Y' won' wanna be in here! Better move it Honda..."

 

The teen continued to groan, Bakura standing up with a small smile as he grabbed his own coat. "Ah... If you like, I could act as moral support..."

 

He shook his head, still more groans following the motion. "I don't think that'll work," he muttered, holding his head in his hand, "But you know what, it'll probably keep them from murdering me if I have a witness so... Lets go." With that the two made their way off, Yugi and Katsuya watching as the teen's sister quickly moved from the window toward the front door with her fiancee and son. "Happy holidays guys," Honda shouted with a wave, voice laced with a small bit of dread in regards of what was to come.

 

The two nodded, sending their own holiday wishes back. "Merry Christmas!" The large spinning glass door swung, the two quickly disappearing into the now dark outside as Yugi turned back to Kastuya. "Man," the blond muttered, shaking his head before taking a sip of his iced tea. "Y' think he'll live through th' holidays?"

 

Yugi merely shook his head expression held in a perfect deadpan as he answered. "Personally, I wonder that every day with you, living in Kaiba's house." Hahahaha, very funny... He'd live. The boy shifted closer to the window, looking outside at the already windy and snow filled sky for a moment. "Speaking of Kaiba," he added, looking back to his friend with a small frown. "You seem more than just pressed for time with this..."

 

The blond shrugged, rubbing his head in agitation. "Well I only have two days left," he muttered, biting his lip as he looked up in thought. "One if y' count th' fact that most stores 'r closed t'morrow..." He sighed, slumping in his seat as the scowl on his face fell short. "I was this close though," he muttered, staring at the table with a more depressed frown. "Thought I had somethin'... Maybe it just wasn' th' right idea t' act on..."

 

"...What sort of idea was it?" Yugi asked, the boy trying and failing to hide what curiosity he had. (Probably not trying actually...) "What were you going to get?"

 

Another shrug, followed by a sigh. Briefly, the blond looked around, checking with now almost ingrained paranoia to make sure no one was listening. "Found 'r las' name," he muttered, turning back to his friend. "'Kouryuu.' Found 'r relatives too," he added, leaning over the table as the remaining food there lay forgotten. "Th' ones she stayed with b'fore she an' Mokuba went t' the orphanage... I'd figured," he continued, Yugi listening intently, "That since there was no pictures 'f their parents, since Mokuba never got t' see what 'is mom looked like, they should have something... And I figured," the blond whispered, voice low as a waitress passed to take the clear plates from the table, "That since they left a bunch of things b'hind at that place, maybe one of them was an album 'r somethin..."

 

His friend nodded, arms still crossed. "I take it they didn't then?"

 

Katsuya shook his head, a scowl appearing on his face. "Nah, they had one..." Yugi's eyebrows went up in an evident 'oh really?' sort of look, letting his friend go on. "Pretty sure 'f that at least. Th' problem is that as soon as I mentioned th' idea of handing it over the aunt said she'd sooner charge me wi' trespassin' than give me th' stuff." He shook his head, letting out a long sighing breath. "An I thought Seto-chan could be a bitch... Sheesh..."

 

Yugi appeared to almost be caught off guard by the reference to his rival, staring for a few moments before shaking his head. Probably still used to her being 'Kaiba' due to the presence of others. Even so this didn't stop him from addressing the actual problem. "I see," the boy muttered, closing his eyes a moment in thought. "Hn..." He stared at the ground for a few seconds, before smirking. "So they turned you away then did they... Well. How about I give it a shot," he asked, the smirk growing. Katsuya stared, the boy across from him continuing with an almost frightening gleam in his eyes. "Where do they live exactly, I'm sure I could convince them..." Well, if he was so sure...

 

The blond shrugged, pulling out the phonebook page and handing it over. "Second 'Yamada' on th' list," he said with a mutter, taking care to avoid sticking the paper in the ketchup covered fries he had. "It's on the other side 'f Domi-" He tensed, watching as Yugi took the page and looked it over before pocketing it. "Wait..." Katsuya coughed, watching as the boy pulled out some change to cover the rest of the bill before grabbing another fry. "Waiiit hang on... W... What are y' gonna do t' them..?"

 

He shrugged, moving out of the booth as Katsuya followed behind him. "Oh... Nothing much," he said dismissively, looking up at his friend with a smirk. Though the response was a blank, somewhat dumbfounded expression, he still continued. "Just going to talk to them really. Anyways. Are you free at any point tomorrow, Jonouchi?"

 

"...Yeah..." He frowned, nodding. "I got th' weekend off, same as t'day, so I'm free..." They continued toward the door, Katsuya trying to think about something other than the many possible 'penalty games' that would possibly end up going on soon enough. "Seriously though, what-"

 

Yugi gave a wave, still smirking as he moved to go back to his house through the miniature blizzard that was currently developing. "You'll see," he said, snowflakes slowly creating a thin layer of ice on both boy's coats and pants. "How about we meet here again tomorrow," the boy continued, zipping up the coat he was wearing and carefully hanging the puzzle just under his scarf. "Same time as today."

 

He blinked, before grinning. Well... In the end, Yugi was Yugi right? He was getting a... A little better with the penalty use right? "Heh.. Yeah," he said with a nod, waving as he turned toward his own route back. "Will do... See yah Yugi!"

 

With that the two took their separate ways, snowflakes continuing to fall to the ground in their wake. He needed to calm down! Not like he was going to do anything in cold blood after all right? The games were all a fair chance after all from what 'normal' Yugi had said at least.

 

(He didn't really feel comfortable asking the other Yugi at the time...)

 

Everything would be fine. And with those thoughts in mind, he went back to the house feeling more relaxed than he had since he started the whole Christmas mess to begin with.

 

* * *

 

While conversations on the holidays went underway much quieter times could be seen between Mokuba and Seto throughout the same week that had caused so much grief for the youngest member of their staff. As Seto's brother had 'planned', something which had quickly been revealed as a list of things to do with no real set date, work was something that was for once pushed to the back of her mind. If only for Mokuba's sake at least. ' _Lets play capmon_ ', was the first thing the boy shouted, an expected thing. Down in the large rec room that she'd hardly been in since first coming to the house, a board was pulled out and a basket held before her. Pieces were picked from a scrambled number of pieces from the basket and though she personally didn't see much in the already dying game it was more than clear that Mokuba was enjoying this.

 

With that game out of the way the next thing Mokuba had decided on was a game she hadn't actually heard of herself. ' _And Monster Fighter,_ ' Mokuba had shouted, pulling out two gun-like objects and a small collection of figurines. ' _That's pretty fun too!_ ' Not something she knew at all, but fairly easy to figure out. Almost point and click really- (Wait, did she just lose?) It was almost surreal, how happy he was as the time passed. After all that had happened before, and with Gozaburo... With herself, a thought that made her sick to her stomach.

 

And still the days flew quickly, for only positive reasons. _'Lets go to the arcade,_ ' her brother said with a grin, ' _It's been a while since we went there! And I want you to have a burger with me,_ ' he continued, laughing at the raised eyebrows the request had received. ' _There's a place that I got to go to a few times... I think it's called..._ ' They went to Burger World of all places. A few times he said?

 

Didn't take much to guess who took him there. (Though she supposed the fries were alright...) During the drive back she'd finally asked about this 'Katsuya-nii' business. He didn't really have an answer for when that happened- it was gradual, according to him. Something that he'd done himself, the boy had hurriedly added in the blond's defense, Jonouchi had nothing to do with it. He told her about the summer after that, about his trip to Osaka. How he'd given the key to Jonouchi- who had apparently given it to Yugi in an attempt to hide it from Pegasus, given the quick conversation they'd had at the helicopter hangar. About the festival, the fish...

 

It certainly explained the well cared for tank in her brother's room, with the three idiotically happy goldfish swimming around. ' _We'll all go together sometime, right Nee-sama?_ ' What else could she say to that? Festivals weren't particularly something she was interested in, but for him? ' _We'll see,_ ' she told him honestly, the boy's grin widening in response. ' _We'll see...'_ She'd missed a lot, too much. Pictures made sense now, along with dull numb feelings she could recall having while she 'slept'. Souvenirs that had gathered along the side-table still cluttered it neatly, a permanent reminder of the fact that she didn't want to get rid of 'them' this time. Fall had come to an end before she woke up in her opinion, despite the fact that only now on the 23rd, had Winter officially lasted more than a day. She'd skipped over half a year, skipped over her sixteenth birthday of all things!

 

And after an 'interesting' mini-celebration which consisted of her brother and herself sharing a small dinner and Mokuba handing her a booster pack of cards he wanted her to have, the boy had at last 'run out of ideas'. She didn't though. And despite the fact that it was a 'national holiday', there were still a number of things still open and running. This would be no exception.

 

To an extent of course.

 

The car had been prepared, windows tinted to further hide the surprise as the vehicle moved, and the surprise was thus in play."Alright," she said quietly, hands over her brother's eyes as they left the car. "No peeking, understand..?" The boy nodded, slowly being led onto a sidewalk as cold snowflakes fell from the morning sky.

 

"I won't," he shouted, attempting to nod despite the hold on his head. "I promise!" She smirked, continuing to lead the boy through the doors of the building he couldn't see. "Where are we?" he asked, listening as his older sister muttered something to someone, pushing a second door open to fully escape the cold winter air. Silence filled the room, save for a few footsteps. "It's pretty quiet in here..." It should be; it was almost completely empty in here. A small click, and the first few lights were on. "Really quiet, are you sure we're-"

 

The words were quickly proven wrong as loud theme park sounds suddenly sounded through the air, the secondary lights whirring to life as various park rides began to move through their tracks. The boy remained shocked silent, Seto smirking lightly at the slight jump he'd given in response to the sounds. "Alright," she said as she uncovered the boy's face, stepping to the side somewhat. "Open your eyes..."

 

Mokuba stared, looking around as the rides of his sister's enormous indoor theme park started up. Roller coasters shot around at top speed on their tracks, other slower rides merely running through the motions pre-programmed into them.

 

"We..." The boy blinked, attempting to find the right words. "We're at... Kaiba-land..?" He looked around as a few members of staff passed by, the boy turning to look up at Seto. No one but staff... Where were the usual crowds of people playing at the park? "Where is everyone..?" The woman smirked, arms crossed as she turned to one of the staff members.

 

"No one," she stated plainly, giving a dismissive nod to the staff member on the side as the man in question closed up the main power controls. "Just the park staff, along with you..." She knelt down, a small smile on her face as she looked at her brother. "And me." Mokuba continued to stare, Seto continuing with a rare, honest smile that would quite likely never make it outside the building. "We have the entire park to ourselves," she continued, "For the entire day."

 

He blinked, eyes wide. "The entire day?" She nodded, before standing up to take off her coat. Was it that hard to believe?

 

"The entire day." She folded the coat over her arm, looking at her brother. "So," she asked, arms crossed with the bulky coat over top them. "Where do you want to go first?"

 

"I..." He blinked, before his face broke into a wide grin as he ran off. "Roller coaster! Lets go on the roller coaster!" He quickly charged down the center hall, older sister staring off before belting after him after a few moments.

 

"G- Mokuba!" Now wait a moment, they had to put their coats away, and-

 

...Hahh. She continued after her brother, a small smirk on her face as the boy eagerly started a small conversation with the woman heading the coaster controls. Well, she decided as she slowed to a walk. She could deal with carrying her coat for a day.

 

It'd be worth the time.

 

* * *

 

The house of the Yamada family was straight, clean, and uniform. White plaster walls, a neat front yard that was little more than a meter in length, and a garage with the door closed over. It was something he'd expected if he were honest with himself. Personally he didn't know what sort of 'conversation' he would end up having with this 'Yamada Anne' though. Was she legitimately cruel, and someone to be 'dealt with'? Or merely afraid of the past, and hiding behind idle threats? He wasn't sure but whatever the reason he would help his friend. Yugi, the 'original Yugi', stood before the same door Jonouchi had, large and innocent eyes staring as he waited for his knocks to be answered. Despite any growth he'd made throughout the current year, he was still fairly short. He was more than embarrassed to admit that the door knob was still a fair number of inches above where his puzzle sat. Ignoring height however...

 

 _'Other me,_ ' he called mentally, the familiar form of his friend misting in the back of his mind. He could either see his other self, or the world around him, not both. For now however he focused on the sights of the 'real world'. _'Remember, don't do anything drastic alright?_ '

 

There was an odd sensation, his other self nodding in agreement. It was strange, talking to 'thin air', particularly when he couldn't see the one speaking. But maybe sometime they could find a way to change that, so that they didn't have to choose between one or the other. _'Alright partner,_ ' his other self said, arms likely crossed in the depths of the puzzle. ' _But if we get the same reaction that Jonouchi did,_ ' he warned, the sound of light footsteps coming from the other side of the door.

 

The door opened, the grey-haired woman from before looking down with raised eyebrows as Yugi gave his last answer. ' _We have to at least try,_ ' he said quietly, watching as the woman stared down at him with a frown. ' _At least that much..._ ' "Ah... Sorry to disturb you," Yugi said politely, as the woman eyed him skeptically. He bowed his head, continuing. "I was just wondering... I came from K-" He coughed, hurriedly correcting himself with the name Jonouchi had used before. "Erm... From Kouryuu-kun's school and-"

 

"If you have anything to do with that blond hooligan that came to my house yesterday," the woman stated dangerously, "Then you will make it as far as the hall step..." Erm... What?

 

The boy stared, before pulling himself together. "A-Ah... Again, I'm sorry to disturb you..." He coughed, flushing red as he turned away somewhat. "I just wanted to know something about them... I'll leave as soon as I know..."

 

Anne's eyes narrowed dangerously, but she moved away from the door to let him in anyways. "I'll assume for a moment that you truly are sorry then," the woman muttered, standing to the side. "Therefore," she continued, allowing Yugi to come into the front hall. "You may come in from the cold for the moment." The boy nodded at the request, putting his shoes away and turning as the woman motioned for him to follow into a kitchen.

 

He suspected the motion to invite him in was more a matter of principle- it was fairly chilly outside already, and if Anne suspected they were closer to where Kaiba's orphanage had been, it would have been no short a trip. It was only proper to let someone warm up before sending them on their way then...if they were polite at least. It was a narrow hall that he entered through and the kitchen was about as roomy as that, with a small table and four chairs standing in the center of a cabinet lined kitchen.

 

"Take a seat," she stated, pointing at the table and clearing a worn leather covered book from it. Besides the book there was only a medium sized bell of sorts, with two mallets hanging on either side. "You're lucky my husband isn't home right now," Anne muttered with a small shrug, placing the book on the side counter before turning to her guest. "Otherwise you wouldn't have even had the chance to speak..."

 

Another nod, Yugi taking a seat on the chair and looking around the room. It was almost dark in there, despite the sun coming through the window. The room was bathed in a dull grey light, shadows clinging to every corner. It was mostly plain the room, but while there were standard new-years decorations on the table to make up for this fact, there was a cross on the side wall... A crucifix, he noted in silence, before turning back to Anne once more. "Thanks for letting me in Yamada-san," he said quietly, the woman merely nodding her head.

 

"Not a problem," she muttered, continuing to stand against the counter. "Now what do you want from me, concerning the Kouryuu's?" The boy swallowed, a feeling of reassurance coming from his other half. He was in here, and he needed to ask just one thing... Here went nothing. "I was wondering," he began quietly, the reassurance continuing to buzz from the back of his mind. "Mokuba-kun doesn't know what his mother looks like and... I wanted to know if you maybe had a picture, or an album with her in it..."

 

Anne's eyes narrowed, the woman crossing her legs as a sour expression came over her face. "So this is about that then," she muttered, gritting her teeth. E-Erm... What? All he was asking for was a picture! "Unfortunately, as I told the one I can only assume is your 'friend', you have no right to such things." Hah..? "If your friends so want their possessions back," the woman continued with a glare, "Then they will have to come themselves! Besides," she added with a snort. "I don't have any albums with such photos in them... What do you take me for boy, a sentimentalist?" Certainly not, that was for sure. But something seemed off here. He winced, before his eyes drifted over to the book on the side.

 

"Hn..." Hang on... Those kanji were- "Wait..." The boy swallowed, turning back to the woman. "If you don't have a picture of her, then do you at least have one of their father? In that book there?" He pointed over to the leather bound book, Anne tensing as she looked toward it. "It has their name on it after all... You shouldn't keep something like that from them," he continued as the woman's expression soured even further. "That's theirs, they have a right to it. Whether they're here in person or _not_!"

 

The woman quickly grabbed the book, moving from the counter and toward the door. "I think I'll be putting this back now," she stated with narrowed eyes, "So if you could excuse me-!"

 

Yugi moved from his chair, frowning. "Hold on. You asked me why I was here, and I told you," he said, expression growing more severe. "If that's K- If that's Kouryuu-kun's book, then why didn't you let them leave with it to begin with?" Even if he couldn't get the book for thinly legal reasons, he could at least find out that much! The woman merely stood there in silence at the question, and his serious expression faded into a sad frown, and it made the truth that much more obvious.

 

...There wasn't a reason, was there. "...It..." The woman turned, eyes narrowed and cold. "As I said,” she resolved with a steel voice. “You have no right to this book! Now," she continued, tossing the book to the table and moving for the phone at the other side of the room. "I gave your friend fair warning, and I'm more than certain he would have relayed the message!" H-Hang on, what? "I'm calling the police," she snarled, voice almost frantic, "And hopefully your arrest will serve as a larger warning to your 'friends' to leave me alone!" Arrest!? But he hadn't even done anything, he-

 

A rush of energy filled him, the boy's hair standing on end as the feeling intensified. ' _That's my cue,_ ' his other half said, the original mentally nodding as he stepped forward in their mind. ' _I'll handle this now.'_

 

 _'...Alright._ ' Another nod, and within a few seconds he was watching from an almost ghostly plane...

 

And 'Yugi' was now 'Dark Yugi'. "I know what you did eight years ago," the boy abruptly said, voice low and confident as the woman across from them halted in her reach for the phone numbers. Anne slowly turned with narrowed eyes, 'Yugi' continuing on with an eerie red glow to his own. "When you left those two in an orphanage... You left no ties, and I can guess that it was only your fear that kept you from saying otherwise. If they found out from those photos that you lied about something so important after all..."

 

The woman turned completely, eyes wide as she dropped the phone. "What are you saying," she asked, voice almost nothing but a hiss. "What are you implying..!"

 

Yugi merely smirked, arms crossed with a level of confidence rarely ever exhibited by his 'lighter' half. "Implying? Nothing... All I'm saying is that we both have something against the other, something that we need... With that in mind," he continued darkly, the smirk growing as a dark energy appeared to seep from where he stood in the room. "How about we play a game..? If you win," the boy explained, eyes narrowing. "Then I'll leave, and you'll never have to deal with your 'nephews' again. More importantly," he added, "Your secret from those years ago will remain as such..."

 

Not that he had any intentions of spilling those particular beans to begin with. Even so, she didn't know that, did she. And quite frankly if that was what she was assuming than that was just fine. No harm done...

 

Right? Across from him Anne was swallowing, slowly walking forward to take a seat at the table as her 'guest' returned to his own. "...And what if you win?" she continued with a nervous growl, hand coming to rest on the tabletop as it shook. The smirk grew still darker, an energy seeming to radiate around the room instead of just himself as he spoke.

 

"I get that book," he stated, "No questions asked... Keep in mind of course, that this will be a shadow game." The woman across him frowned, and Yugi himself crossed his arms and continued to explain. "What this means is that, in addition to these conditions, the loser will face a penalty game," he added, an odd glint appearing in his eyes with the words. As for the penalty... Let the games decide. "But I'm sure you expected some sort of 'punishment', didn't you?" he asked, watching as Anne continued to tense before him. The energies and shadows continued to radiate around the room, seeping up the walls, blocking the windows and doors. "So what do you say, Yamada-san?" he asked with a wicked grin, the millennium puzzle appearing to glow around his neck. "Would you care to play a game..?"

 

Anne swallowed audibly, but it would seem that despite the numerous differences there was at least one thing she held in common with her niece; she was not one to back down from a challenge so easily. And despite any fears she obviously had as the shadows continued to whirl about the room, she managed to steel her gaze and tone both. "...I accept," she muttered stiffly, hands folded in front of her as she looked down upon her opponent. Instantly the shadows converged, and soon enough there was nothing but the woman, Yugi, and the table. "What sort of game is this?"

 

Yugi's smirk grew into a grin, and he gestured toward the small bell that sat on the table. The bell itself seemed to glow ominously as it stood there, stock still as Yugi grabbed one of the small mallets from beside it. "A simple game really," he said with an odd smile, twirling the mallet in his hand. "Using this bell you've left out for Omisoka..."

 

The woman's eyes narrowed, her arms crossed as she interrupted. "I didn't set it there," she stated with narrowed eyes, evidently insulted by the assumption. "That was my husband, and my son; I don't see too much point in those sorts of holidays... Those hollow beliefs aren't mine. However," she continued with a small sigh, moving over to grab the second mallet, "We made an agreement- if I decorate for my holidays, he decorates for his... My cross, my prayers, my Mass... His bells and shrines and rice-paper charms." Hn... Was that so?

 

He nodded, smile vanishing for the moment as the rules of the game formed in his mind. The best way to do this was becoming clear now. "Alright then," Yugi decided, arms crossed. "If that's the case?" he continued, "You should know of the worlds most cardinal sins, shouldn't you?" The woman across from him nodded, and he went on. "We will each take turns striking the bell," he explained, looking at the bell once more. "The one to strike it last, for the final 'sin', wins the game. You're first," he continued, gesturing to the bell with a neutral expression in the place of his eerie grin. "Go!"

 

Anne swallowed, before nodding as the energy in the room appeared to change. "Alright then," she said, swinging the small mallet along the side. A loud and thundering peal, a noise seemingly impossible to make from the bell at that size echoed around the room. Even so the woman appeared to pay it no mind, merely staring across to her opponent with cold eyes. "The first one... Your turn."

 

The boy nodded, calmly leaning over the table and tapping the side of the bell. "Second peal," he stated, the same thick and pressuring energies from before seeming to close in as another roaring chime came through the air. "Go ahead."

 

A strong clanging noise came through the air, followed by Anne's voice. "Third strike," she said coldly, the turn moving to her opponent as darkness licked the edge of the table. Shadows seemed to swirl at the sides, the room appearing darker than it actually was...

 

Another peal echoed about them, the bell before them reverberating in place. "Fourth," Yugi stated plainly, expression calm and neutral as the darkness thickened.

 

"Fifth," Anne continued, the sound of the bell's gong piercing through the air.

 

"Sixth," echoed Yugi, crossing his arms and leaning back with the same neutral expression. The woman before him stared at the bell, suddenly tensing. Her eyes narrowed and widened once again, her entire body growing stiff.

 

"Gh... This is rigged," she hissed, clenching her fists. "The last person to ring this bell wins," she screeched, volume raising in her anger. "Then it's impossible for me to win," she shouted, eyes narrowed with rage. "You've set me up... It's either the ten bonds, the ninety-eight proclivities or the one-hundred eight earthly desires, and each and every one of them end on your turn!" Yugi merely watched as the woman before him shook, shadows appearing to close right in on them both as they hid the rest of the kitchen from sight. The woman's fists clenched tighter, cracks appearing on the wood in her hands before she finally flung the mallet across the room with a roar. "I refuse to play this game," she shouted, teeth grinding. "A little cheat like yourself... How dare you!"

 

Still Yugi sat there, a few moments of silence passing before he shook his head. "Well," he began, a smirk beginning to appear on his face. "If you insist on forfeiting your go... It's still my turn," he stated, a dark grin on his face as he continued to speak. Anne's expression of rage melted into one of confusion. "A pity you threw your chance away Yamada-san! Hnhnhnhnhn..." Darkness continued to close in on the two, and on the side of the wall the shadows cleared to reveal Anne's crucifix in an almost villainous light. "You assumed I was referring to the vices of Buddhism," he stated, the woman across from him frozen in silent shock. "Your paranoia was so strong that you didn't recognize your own win- for in the Christian religion you hold faith in, there is an odd number of vices... The _cardinal_ sins, and of the six that we've rung this bell for there is only one more!"

 

Anne's frown quickly turned into a look of unbridled horror, the boy in front of her slamming the mallet against the bell to release an echoing peal far louder than that of those before it. Shadows whirled on the one who had lost, seemingly crumbling around them as the woman's eyes suddenly cleared to see what had been there all along. Shadows, clinging, gripping, faceless spirits appearing from the smoke and wrapping around her...

 

"What is this," she muttered, eyes wide as she turned to look at Yugi with terror. "What... What _are_ you!"

 

He merely stood there, shrugging at the question. "'What am I'," he repeated, arms crossed. Now... He'd gotten questions quite close to that one, but never quite like that. Hm. "A good question," he decided. "One that neither of us have the answer to. You should have gone with your instincts instead of your fears Yamada-san..." Shadows continued to wrap tightly around the woman, leaving nothing but her wide and terrified eyes visible. "Even when loss appears imminent," he continued, "There is always a chance to make a comeback." Anne took shuddering breaths as the boy continued, his eyes narrowed into slits. "Your pride and your petty fears have led to your downfall... And now! For your PENALTY GAME!" A rush of energy filled the room, and the shadows that had wrapped tightly around their victim began seeping into her skin. The shuddering breaths increased, echoed voices whispering in her ears as sounds became drowned out.

 

' _This is the Meaning of Fear... Invidia!_ '

 

And with a final, split second series of terrorized breaths the shadows were gone, vanished from Yugi's sight. The room fell silent for a moment. The kitchen was as it had been at game start, albeit with a small mallet on the floor and the other calmly placed on the table beside the bell. Just pale grey light coming through the air, accompanied by the soft ticking of a formerly unseen clock on the side. And then there was a soft sound that was not at all what he expected from the visions the 'penalty' granted. Screams were typical. In some cases mad laughter depending on the illusions invoked. But this was different.

 

This was crying. Yugi frowned, looking at the woman as she curled in on herself in tears, soft cries slowly echoing around the room. ' _I'm sorry,_ ' she repeated to herself in English, over and over and over as she trembled. ' _I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...'_ Now why would she say that? The frown deepened, before he moved to grab the book from the table. He couldn't think about that. It was quite likely he wouldn't ever find out after all. Taking the book from where it had fallen, open and cover side up, he slowly flipped it over to allow dim light to illuminate the glossy pages before him. Along the side there was a cloth ribbon marker, almost glued to the page from constant pressure under closed pages. The pictures weren't too special. Just a western style wedding between two people, along with a picture from what was likely the reception. A young woman with pure white hair, a man with sandy brown hair...

 

Ah. He blinked, looking over the page as the woman on the floor continued to sob quietly. This was the wedding of Kaiba's parents then. So the man there was this woman's brother... There was a picture near the bottom from what was likely the reception; the same couple, accompanied by a few other people, one of them recognizable as a younger version of the person on the floor. The woman whose mantra continued to fill the air.

 

 _'I'm sorry...'_ Yugi traced his fingers over the page, the frown deepening. Some sort of void on the page... What was it? It was a rough, splattered patch, accompanied by a small number of others...

 

 _'Other me,_ ' his lighter half whispered, Yugi pausing in his examination of the book as the presence in his mind addressed him. _'I think those are... Tear stains...'_ The book was closed over with those words, and he nodded. "I see..." He shifted his grip on the book, leaving the kitchen with a blank expression on his face. "...Lets go meet with Jonouchi now, partner."

 

With nothing but the sensation of a nod in the back of his mind the two did just that, leaving nothing but a dark house and a crying woman behind them.

 

* * *

 

It was probably around lunchtime that Mokuba started getting a little tuckered out. Ride after ride after ride, with numerous repeats, tended to do that. For the moment they were 'resting' on one of the quieter rides, a drink in each ones' hand. Rather, they were sitting on the bench seat while the ride itself had been turned off. They were quiet for the most part as they sat there. Coats were hanging on the side of the bench, and both Seto and Mokuba were merely sitting there with nothing to say. In the end however, it seemed the silence needed to be broken.

 

"..Nee-sama," the younger finally said, the two currently quite alone and away from any possible eavesdroppers. "...Thanks for doing this, Nee-sama."

 

The woman turned, blinking before putting her drink to the side. "You don't need to thank me for this," she muttered, arms crossed. "I just thought you'd like it..." It was the sort of thing he liked really, what most kids his age liked. Besides all that, it was...

 

Kind of fun, she'd admit. She wasn't much for rides, but Mokuba certainly seemed to be enjoying it. And since she really had no real dislike for the amusement park (She was the one who built it...), that 'not much' didn't really matter for the moment. Mokuba in question was just smiling, leaning back on his seat as he sipped his own drink. "I do, really," he shouted, as though to reassure his sister of the fact. "It's even better than over the summer, with Shizuka-chan and Katsuya-nii..!" Again with the nii...

 

It wasn't likely to change but even so she winced slightly at the words before turning to the boy. "That reminds me," she stated, frowning somewhat as a still unanswered question came to mind. "...You told me what happened over the summer, and while I was 'gone'... But from what I can tell, you left something out." As the boy stared, she turned her eyes back to the wall across from them, still frowning. "The figurine on my side table," she continued, recalling the avian figure. About 4 or 5 inches tall, with widespread wings. But unlike everything else on the table, she hadn't gotten a 'story' for it. "Where did it come from? ...Actually," she decided, correcting the question as the conversation she had at the Duelist Kingdom came to mind. "...What happened?"

 

The boy blinked, before turning away. "Nn... I..." He swallowed, putting his drink down. "I don't want to say," he finally whispered, frowning. He didn't want to? All of the stories he'd told were happy. Pleasant things, things to be proud of even. So then what was _this_ one?

 

Her gaze lightened somewhat, the woman keeping her own voice down in response. "...Why?"

 

Mokuba continued to frown, swinging his legs from the bench as he attempted to find the words to say. “...Because," he said quietly, hands at his sides as he continued to look away. "At the time, with Yugi and the others... ...I just don't want you to get mad at them," he finally said, turning to look at his sister. "I know you don't like them... And I don't expect you to but I don't want you to blame them for what happened, or judge them wrongly because of it..." ...Alright, now she definitely had to know what happened. This could only mean something bad, something unexplainable by typical terms if she wanted to really take a shot in the dark. She narrowed her eyes for a moment, looking at the expression on her brother's face.

 

...Damn it. "...If I promise," she emphasized, not completely believing her own words but speaking them nonetheless. "Not to 'judge them' about what happened... Will you tell me what happened?"

 

The boy stared at her with a fairly unimpressed look. "No." What? She wouldn't do anything (most likely), so-!

 

"...Why?"

 

He smirked, crossing his arms with a somewhat smug expression on his face. "Because you'd still do it!" Damn. She sighed, mentally groaning at the words. Obviously someone knew her better than she thought. ...Hn... "...Could you please... Just... Tell me what happened then?" If he had been in any danger... Any at all...

 

Mokuba frowned again, turning away. He could probably guess what she was thinking. "I ...I don't..." The woman gave an exasperated sigh, holding her head for a moment. Alright. Mokuba wasn't afraid of whoever caused this most likely, just afraid of what she'd do to anyone else involved. Just this once then, she wouldn't come down on those idiots. Just this once...

 

"The only reason you would need to worry about those morons," she decided, lowering her hand, "Is if they did something more idiotic than normal..." A highly unlikely is- No wait, unlikely was true, but not impossible! She tensed, before turning to her brother with narrowed eyes. "...That had better not be the problem..."

 

The boy jumped, shaking his head rapidly. "N-No! No, that's not it!" He laughed nervously, rubbing his head. "It's definitely not it... Trust me..." He sighed, staring at the ground again. For a moment, she thought she wouldn't be getting an answer. Abruptly however, just as she was about to ask if Mokuba was ready to go on some other ride, the boy began speaking again. "...That day," he said, before shaking himself and saying something else. "...You know how Yugi... How there's two of him," he asked, Seto nodding somewhat as the boy continued. "It's because of the puzzle he has, the big gold pyramid he wears..." Alright. Sounded more like object attributed 'DID', but given all that had happened as of late she'd accept that for now. But where was he going with this? "There are other things like it too. Pegasus had that eye," he explained, Seto recalling the similar Egyptian eye depicted on both gold pieces with a mental growl. "And Yugi and the others met someone named 'Shaadi' with two items like it. But Bakura... He used to wear one too!"

 

Bakura? She blinked, eyebrows raised slightly. The albino? Her expression was apparently all the boy needed to continue on, as Mokuba nodded. "We didn't know about it," he continued, turning away. "He was really quiet, and nervous when we met him... So when we went to his house to play 'Monster World'-" Monster World? They were playing a table-top RPG? "-Well... It turned out, that there were two Bakura's as well. The real one had tried to warn us not to come, because he finally found out what was happening... He'd had to move away from his family, to protect them, but even with that," he continued, Seto's eyes widening as the boy went on, "The other him took over, taking his place. We didn't know obviously, and for a while the game seemed normal so we just assumed we didn't know him well enough..." He took a shuddering breath, still staring at the ground before continuing on. "Whenever there was a super-critical attack from Bakura, who was acting as the dungeon master... Or when one of us rolled a fumble..." The boy swallowed, shaking slightly before changing tangents yet

again. "Everything was going fine until the boss monster appeared... It got a free attack, and rolled double zeroes... And suddenly, Bakura pointed at me, shouting something... And the next thing I knew, everyone was screaming, and I couldn't see anything, and when I opened my eyes again," he said, voice somehow little more than a whisper, "...I was in my figurine..." In the... In the figur-... What...

 

WHAT? "Katsuya-nii went ballistic," he continued, trembling words pulling Seto's attention back to the story itself. "All I could hear were his shouts as that 'Other Bakura' spoke, telling everyone that to save me they had to win... And after that, I heard the dice clattering on the board... And then Bakura told Katsuya-nii he'd rolled out of turn, shouting the same thing he did to me, but instead of Katsuya-nii being next... Anzu took the hit... And her figurine started to move too." Seto stared, silent as the boy continued still on. She wanted to go deal with this 'other Bakura' right now. Bury him a thousand feet below the ground, but Mokuba was still talking. Let him finish. Let him finish. Interrupting now would just make things worse, she knew that somehow. "...It was for nothing though," he said quietly, recalling the events vividly. "Katsuya-nii, he rolled a fumble, so he ended up a figurine... And then after him, Honda was trapped in his figurine too, when 'Zorc' attacked him..." Zorc. That must have been the 'boss monster' then... "But before Yugi made his move, he told the Dark Bakura to put his soul in his figurine... So that all of us could fight, while the other Yugi rolled the dice..."

 

He shuffled over, leaning against Seto as he continued on. The woman tensed for a moment before quietly putting an arm over the boy in an attempt to comfort him, listening as he continued onward. "We continued to play along with the game, like Dark Bakura said... If we wanted to get out, we had to win, but if we lost our hit-points, and died as figurines, we'd all die... It wasn't fair!" he shouted, his sister jumping slightly at the sudden change in volume. "My figurine could move outside of my turn, so I couldn't be attacked like they could. While they were stuck standing in place with each attack, I was able to move... When we made it all the way to the final dungeon, and suddenly everyone was trapped in a spike pit, everyone but me... And all I could do was watch, when 'Zorc' appeared and attacked everyone while they couldn't move! I couldn't do anything... I..." He sniffed, pulling closer to the woman beside him as he spoke. "And then... We all died..." What...

 

Seto tensed with the words, unconsciously gripping the boy tighter than before. Dead? But he was right here, how- "They got out of the spike trap, but Zorc was too strong. He rolled a super critical hit, and blasted us all away... But something happened," Mokuba continued, eyes seeming faded as he spoke. "For some reason, the attack didn't work. Everything went black, but when we woke up..." The boy looked up, swallowing. "Nee-sama... I don't know how it happened, but... Not only did the good Bakura, not only did he take back control of his hand for a moment, the figurine on your sidetable... That's where it came from. We woke up, and we heard Dark Bakura shouting, and there it was... It shot down Zorc's eye, and fought with us while the Other Yugi pointed it forward... Neesama," he said again, still looking up with wide eyes. "I know you probably don't believe me but... I think you saved us all from that attack... And again too... Later," he explained, choking slightly on his words, "When Zorc made his final attack... Before we defeated him, there was another super critical... Bakura, the good Bakura," he clarified, "He managed to appear with us on the board to help us, and block most of the attack with a shield... But your figurine, it stood in front of Katsuya-nii, while Katsuya-nii stood in front of me, blocking the attack... Without that, we would have died neesama!"

 

H-Hang on... She looked down at the boy, an odd expression on her face. Some figurine counterpart of herself appeared on the board and... What? Dim shouts could be recalled in the back of her mind, but besides a wash of heat there was nothing. Impossible, it was completely impossible... So much that it could only be true. "...Well." She shook her head, still holding the boy close as she attempted to wrap her head around what he'd told her. "...I can see why you didn't want to tell me this," she finally muttered, pulling the boy closer before looking down at Mokuba with a small frown. "...I assume Yugi dealt with this 'Dark Bakura' accordingly..."

 

An odd glint appeared in her eyes with that, her brother nodding furiously in response. "Definitely," he said with a nod, pulling from the hug. "We got rid of him completely when we won the game, and everyone who had been trapped in a figurine returned to their bodies! Bakura doesn't have the ring around his neck any more either, so even if 'Dark Bakura' still exists, he's long gone!" He laughed nervously, shaking his head at the thought before continuing. "Everything's fine now! Really nee-sama, it is..." The boy turned away, hopping off the bench. "So... There's no problem, alright?"

 

Of course there was a problem! He'd had his soul snatched out and had been likely to die within a few hours after! The only thing giving her even a sliver of comfort on the topic was the apparent lack of the 'ring', which had apparently caused all this! And it all happened while she was...

 

Gone. ' _That's right,_ ' the albino had shouted after her match between herself in the mutt, ' _After all, Jonouchi is-_ ' The one who was there that day, as opposed to herself? Or even the reason why he was still alive and here with her? She narrowed her eyes, silent for a moment before standing up with a nod. "No," she finally said, grabbing the coats as they moved to whatever ride was next on Mokuba's 'list'. Everything made sense now. A part of her didn't want it to make sense but... She held her tongue, looking down at her brother for a moment before pulling him close as they walked toward whatever ride or event would be next for the day. "...No there isn't."

 

* * *

 

She hadn't saved her brother. While she had known and accepted that when they left the Duelist Kingdom, distracted by the annoyance of ferrying Yugi and his 'friends' back to Tokyo and by the overall hidden elation of seeing her brother alive and well, she was still running that thought through her head as she sat at her desk on Christmas Eve. Against Pegasus she had at least tried, tried and failed and accepted death in a grim attempt to at least make up for her failure. She hadn't known about that other time though. She didn't do anything, not that she knew of, to keep her brother safe those times before, despite what her brother believed. If she couldn't recall it, then she hadn't done it. She wanted to remember but...

 

Someone else had saved her brother, of that she was certain. He'd had his soul stolen not once but twice, and in both cases... Even though she herself wasn't in any way available in this newly discovered case, that did not change the obvious fact. 'Katsuya-nii' as the boy would call him, had jumped after the source of both cases of 'spiritual kidnapping', not to mention the more obviously dangerous physical form, pulling his friends with him. And the 'other' Yugi joined in, bringing with him his absolutely moronic luck when it came to winning. Something she had counted on she admitted to herself, something that she had believed when coupled with his skill, would at least spare her brother from an ill-deserved fate. But for all his skill, there was always a weak point. Same with the luck... And she'd find it, sooner or later.

 

Seto sighed, leaning back against her seat and putting down the sketch pad she'd been working on. The design, something that had originally started out as a small mistakenly placed line on the page labeled 'Duel Disk V2', was far smoother than the prototype in her opinion. She wasn't quite sure where the inspiration was coming from, but so far it looked rather practical- perfect for the new design. It would fold to the side when not in use, and latch tightly around the arm. When it was in use it would resemble a blade of sorts, lining the side of the arm and extending past the hand. It would need something to display the holograms though she decided, perhaps something could attach on the sides or...

 

The woman looked over at the clock, sighing as she noted the time. Well. The rest of the designs would have to wait she supposed. In all honesty given how slow the work day was, she could probably have this under development within a month. It was nice to get things done quickly, after the last year. She closed up the sketchbook, slipping it into her briefcase before getting up to lock up the building.

 

Christmas eve. She had a nasty feeling she knew why her brother had decided on that particular day for her to do her last work-day before the new year, but all in all she would take what she got this time. Better than sitting across from the board and listening to them whine about how much longer it would be before she could fire the- Erm... _'Test their product_ '.

 

And _then_ fire them.

 

She grabbed her coat from the side, pulling it on before heading off to the elevator. 'Merry Christmas Kaiba-sama,' the secretary to the side said with a smile, Seto herself giving nothing more than her usual 'nod'. Watching as the doors to the elevator hissed open she stepped inside, pushing the 'G' button and dimly watching the doors close before going down. As much as she had planned to draw out her 'one day of work' as much as she possible to ensure she didn't miss any details in all that had happened, anyone available to drive the car was 'preoccupied' with something that was apparently far more important. And as much as she didn't want to say it, there were things far more important than not having to walk back to the house. Things like her brother for one, she told herself as she left the elevator to head out of the building. If there was even the risk of something happening to him, then she would give up anything to fix that problem.

 

Anything. Though she doubted that those reasons were applying in this situation, she wasn't in the mood to argue with her company assistant and wait around for a late ride. Snow and wind struck her face as she came out of the large glass door, the woman wincing briefly at the sudden temperature drop before shrugging it off with a neutral and blank expression. Tch... Well, a scarf and a coat would be enough for now. Now then. It was likely about a forty-five minute walk from the building to the house, so she had better move. Seto gripped her briefcase, making her way down to the crosswalk in silence as the wind continued to howl. Clouds above more or less obscured the now moonlit sky, most stars above her clouded from existence by the thick and heavy air above the city. She blinked as a few clumps of snow blew into her face, again paying it no mind as she walked. Hn.

 

For a 'quiet, peaceful' time of year it was getting awful stormy. She shrugged it off, continuing along the sidewalk in silence as she somewhat pushed her way through the crowded streets. Music was dimly audible from numerous stores, mostly playing romantic songs about the holidays or English carols, as had been going on since likely early November. 'Christmas'. Such were the consequences of the holidays... By the looks of things Mokuba was getting incredibly excited about the idea, despite the thin veil of 'reason' being clearly unable to cover the intense commercialism behind it. She'd never really bothered with it herself. Not after Gozaburo...

 

Nor after that other day, she thought to herself. She continued walking, expression still notably blank save a slight and seemingly permanent glare. Didn't see the point, or was it something else? ...Maybe it was just knowing that the point of the holiday was to roll in double the average profit Japan received. Even so with Christmas around the corner, and her brother likely flying around the house in some sort of holiday panic... She still didn't know what to give her brother. The woman stopped for a moment, frowning at that thought. And how many people ever said that, really? _'I don't do Christmas, even for my younger brother_ '? Just repeating it like that in her mind sounded worse than it should have been.

 

She had to do something. Something more than just playing along with his recent requests, because the fact was that while she could have just refused the 'two weeks off' among other things... Just playing along was hollow. She sighed, gritting her teeth as snow started to gather on her hair. How could she not know what to get him? There had to be something, anything... Wouldn't she bet that the Mutt, who only knew her brother for less than a year already had a present? The thought bit hard, Seto holding back a growl at the idea. Damn it. She couldn't just go with some half-baked, last minute plan either, that would be even worse...

 

Tch. The woman looked beside her, eyes drifting over the store she was standing outside of. Something worth- She blinked, looking over the display for a moment. An engraving store...

 

...She hadn't ever bothered with Christmas, not for a while...

 

And thinking back, she could remember Mokuba giving more than one sad smile around the time when the subject was rejected. Year after year, the first time with herself, and all those afterward with no support at all when facing down Gozaburo with the question. And by the time Gozaburo was gone, well... Her brother hadn't even bothered bringing it up the year before. So perhaps this year...

 

She turned to look over the store window, before making her decision. This wouldn't just be something to make up for it all she decided, stepping into the store and paying the now melting snow on her coat no mind. It wasn't some pitiful attempt to make amends, or to pretend nothing had changed from when they were younger. This... This was something she wanted to do this time around.

 


	4. The One Replaced

By the time Yugi had showed up outside Burger World that afternoon, the snow falling from above had come to a brief halt in lieu of letting the light of the sun through. From the cloud covered sky that dominated the area early in the week had come a welcome and somewhat clear blue expanse, even if it was still painfully cold outside if standing still for too long. He didn't want to miss seeing his friend however, so outside he stayed.

 

It was the 'Other Yugi' who was walking toward him, Katsuya noted when he finally spotted him. A thick book was gripped tightly in the boy's mitten-ed hands, and despite how utterly ridiculous his original counterpart looked in the coat he wore the darker half managed to still exert his usual air of respect in the same outfit somehow. It was fairly interesting, though when the 'darker side' of the boy had realized he would be stuck in a coat for a good three months, he hadn't been particularly pleased about it.

 

He was certainly complaining far less about it now that it was actually cold outside. "Yugi!" Katsuya shouted, watching as his friend continued across the street with the thick book in his hands. In fact despite the thick coat he wore, he'd say that Yugi looked almost a little cold. "Yugi!" he continued, walking over with a grin. "How'd yah do?"

 

The boy merely smirked, gesturing to the book in question before coming close enough to speak. "Take a look," he said with a smile, the two walking into the restaurant. He brushed a bit of fallen snow from the cover, holding it out to his friend. "This is the entire album for Kaiba's family."

 

Katsuya stared, grin frozen on his face as he took the book. It was incredibly well kept, from what he could tell. The leather embossed cover was scarcely touched by the elements of time, and thick kanji stood out from the book's hide. The pages themselves from what he could feel along the sides were in good condition as well, and despite fraying the ribbon that hung out on the side looked almost as good as it likely appeared when first purchased. "Woah..." The blond shook his head, eyes wide. "Yugi, I..." He'd expected maybe a picture at best, a worn and torn photo that was barely seen- but to hold an entire album felt almost unreal. He looked to his friend, chasing after the boy as he was led down to a table by a waitress. The pair took their seats, leather-bound album placed neatly on the side of the table. "Yugi," he repeated, looking from the cover to his friend. "How'd you get this..?"

 

His friend shrugged, a small smirk on his face. Somehow it didn't bring too much relief to mind. "Oh... The usual way," Yugi said nonchalantly, taking off his coat and mitts. Erm... Usual? The boy chuckled as Katsuya coughed, looking over the menu before continuing. "We played a 'game'," he stated with a shrug. "And she unfortunately lost... You were right to say that Yamada was more than a little over the line I think," Yugi said with a frown, looking up from the menu a moment. "You have my word that no harm came to her though," he added seriously, turning back to the menu. This was probably the first time he had a shot at ordering something _he_ liked; from what could be seen, 'Other Yugi' and 'Normal Yugi's tastes were fairly varied.

 

As it were Katsuya sighed in relief with Yugi's words. "Phew..." He nodded, sighing with the news. If Yugi said she was fine, then she was fine; now worries there then. "Well, so long as there's no crazy money-eyes like las' time," he said, wincing at the memory of the gameshow he'd been on. "That was jus' a lil..." Weird? Scary maybe? Who the hell knew anymore.

 

Yugi gave a wry smirk, apparently recalling the day just as well as his friend did. "I was only trying to help," he said with a shrug, flipping the menu page.

 

The blond grinned, laughing. "Yeah, I know," he said, shaking his head. Of course he was trying to help- and it worked didn't it? Besides if it hadn't been for Yugi, he'd have never gotten to make that trip to Osaka. "An' anyways, it's no big deal! I jus didn' think that'd be th' best way to start th' holidays, y' know?" Crazy people going on the news...

 

Wasn't the best thing to watch at Christmas. Again his friend nodded, before turning as a waitress appeared. "Well," he continued, smirking. "I can at least tell you that it isn't something like that." Er... Why did he have a feeling 'something like that' just meant ' _Well, she's not cackling madly or anything..._ '. As... As opposed to what? He opted to simply not think on it anymore, given that there was nothing to be done by now. Yugi looked up at the waitress, looking back at the menu again. "Hn... I'll try..." The boy frowned, continuing to flip through the menu in apparent annoyance. "...Ah..."

 

He snorted, holding back a laugh as his friend gave a fairly unimpressed glare in response to the sound. Haha! Such was the price of never actually ordering he guessed! "Iced tea an' a cheeseburger," he said to the waitress with a nod, before glancing at Yugi with a wide grin. Hehehehehe... "Y' might be waitin' a while f'r this guy though..."

 

Yugi frowned, crossing his arms. "Actually," he said somewhat angrily, "I've made my decision."

 

"Oh y' have?" he asked with a smirk, watching as the boy nodded 'knowingly'. "Annnd?"

 

He turned from his menu, expression nothing but severe as he continued to speak. "I'll take the burger as well," he stated, nodding somewhat. He blinked, before adding something. "...With extra onions!" Erm. The other Yugi liked onions then? "...I think I'll try a milkshake too," he muttered, looking back at the menu as Katsuya stared with raised eyebrows. "...A chocolate one..." Oh.

 

He just didn't know what the hell he was doing. Which wasn't entirely new. The waitress nodded nonetheless, scribbling the order down and bowing her head. "Alright then," she said, folding her hands in front of her before taking the menus from the table. "I'll be with you as soon as I can!"

 

With that she left, leaving Katsuya to continue snickering as his friend glared across the table. "Gh... Havin' a hard time choosin'?" he asked, wide grin still in place.

 

Yugi merely snorted, arms crossed as he protested the fact. "It just took me a moment, that's all!"

 

He continued to grin, nodding his head. "Whatever y' say man... Hate t' see you on a date w' someone," he added, mentally picturing the 'two Yugi's arguing about what to order. Poor Anzu he supposed.

 

The boy huffed, before changing the subject. "Well, speaking of dates," he said with a raised eyebrow, looking at the book again. "How are you going to give it to her?"

 

Katsuya blinked, silent for a moment. Dates, what? "Give it t'- Oh!" Right! Whoops. He turned to look at the book before looking back at Yugi. "Righ'... I w's thinkin' 'f jus leavin' it by th' door or somethin'..." He flushed, scratching his head with a laugh. "Heh... Somethin' tells me that if I try anythin' else, I'm not likely t' live through th' holidays! Ehehehe..." Probably wouldn't live past Christmas if he tried something else actually.

 

His friend shook his head at that statement, a smirk on his face. "Personally," he said wryly, "I think that if you've lived this long, you have a fairly good chance... ...You aren't going to look in it though are you?" he asked, frowning.

 

Again he blinked, before shaking his head. "Nah... I get that y' would've had t' check," he said with a shrug, "But other than that, this thing 's Seto-chan's personal property... If she shows anyone else, that's up t' her," he continued, leaning on the table. "But I ain't opening this book f'r anything."

 

Yugi nodded, arms crossed. "That sounds good to me," he decided, watching as the food came to the table. "Ah..." Plates were placed on the table, same with tall glasses before the woman before them bowing politely before leaving as quickly as she game. Yugi looked at the food a moment, before taking the milkshake and cautiously taking a sip. "...Hn..." He put the glass back, a slight expression of surprise on his face. Hehehe, well, at least it wasn't like when he'd tried Yugi's mustard-burger. Two souls two tastes right? Hey wait...

 

Katsuya frowned, watching as the boy took a small bite of his burger to get a similar reaction. "Hey Yug'," he asked, the boy looking up and swallowing. "...How'd y' know y' wanted onions on that thing..? Didn' you..." He shook his head, correcting himself. "Didn' yer 'other you' say yah didn't remember anything? If... If you can't r'member anythin' then how... " It was apparently a rough subject between the two; the only real link was Egypt and...

 

Well, just about everything crazy involving other people with items like the puzzle. That never worked out too well. Either way more weirdness showing up was never good. Yugi stared, putting the burger down and frowning with the question. "...I'm not sure," he muttered, eyes narrowing with evident worried suspicion. "...I..." He hesitated, closing his mouth and continuing to stare at the table in silence. It was one of those things that tended to clam a person up. Because similar to how Yugi's words had the power to quiet a person, so did the inability for those words to appear do the same.

 

* * *

 

It would be terribly inaccurate to say that the conversation at Burger World had ended on a bad note. In fact Katsuya thought to himself as he looked around the corner-store the next day, it was quite the opposite. Shortly after the awkward silence had come over the two in response to the 'habits without memory', Yugi decided to change the subject to a large building that was currently in construction across from his house, a topic that sprung up when a construction truck had passed the restaurant. They weren't sure what exactly the building was for the moment. It was certainly tall, with an almost regal looking entrance to go with the many tall and tinted windows, but the guesses were more than enough to keep the conversation fairly high paced.

 

Maybe it was an apartment complex? Nope, the door was too fancy, and there wasn't a buzzer from what they could tell. A hotel then? Maybe, but it was pretty small for a 'big fancy hotel', and why would they put a hotel like that across from a small time game store anyways? (Oddly enough, it was Yugi who had countered that one) Perhaps a restaurant, or just some really weird house...

 

Nonetheless they finally had one clue as they walked back to Yugi's house that evening. Though it was still pretty much nothing. Apparently, the tarp covering the large light they had installed the day before was blown off, so when the two got to the street they were able to read the large English letters fairly clearly. C... L... O... W... ...'Clown'? The building was called... 'Clown?' So like circus clowns?

 

Katsuya shook his head as he pushed the thought from mind, instead looking through the foods he needed for the evening. Clowns aside it was now Christmas eve day, and from all that had gone on he had a feeling everyone was celebrating this evening rather than the next day. He'd long since decided and planned for what he'd get Mokuba though; the boy had said he'd never had Oden so...

 

Why not make some oden then? Not for supper obviously but hey, wouldn't be a bad idea! He'd convinced Kyouko to lend them her nabe and kotatsu- and hell, maybe Seto would try some who knew!

 

...He should probably stop thinking of Seto and a kotatsu in the same room though.

 

He gathered up the food he needed, unable to keep a grin off his face as he went to the front. There was just enough for three people in there- a few eggs, some daikon and suji... Though he ended up skimping on the veggies, he'd admit that. He shouldered the bag, walking back outside and closing his eyes as a gust of wind and snow struck him in the face. Snow scraped against his cheeks, the blond tensing for a moment as a particularly large clump stuck to his mouth. "Bl... Pbbt..! Pbbt!" He spat the snow out, wiping the rest off his face with a slight growl. "Eugh... Bleehhh..." Alright, what the hell was in that snow... That was disgusting. He shook his head, blinking a few times as he headed back to the house.

 

What with the house being a big fancy mansion, the corner-store was obviously not nearly as close as he'd like. Given that it was around noon when he left however he should have plenty of time to get there, and it would likely take around half an hour. Despite the near blizzard worthy conditions for the moment (Wouldn't Seto just be so damn comfortable in her office right now...), it was almost a nice walk. The sky had cleared somewhat, and even though it wasn't near the evening for the moment the lights decorating the streets still gave their own bit of flair to the city for the holidays. Silence reigned through the windy walk, most people inside warm homes or downtown to finish a last minute shop. All in all he thought to himself, it wasn't a bad start to Christmas. Not bad at all.

 

Katsuya trudged his way through the small layer of snow that had gathered along the sidewalks leading to the Kaiba mansion, the soft 'fluff' having remained mostly untouched due to the privacy of the area. Due to the size of the area that was in the mansion's 'possession', it wasn't surprising how few people ever appeared in the area. Why bother coming that far out if all that was there was one house after all; it wasn't as though Seto really invited too many people over, if she ever did. Actually he had a feeling that given Mokuba's reaction to his own first visit, he'd been the first exception for a while. Though he wasn't sure how to feel about that one. He wasn't sure how much yard the place had. Just how big the 'backyard' was, without counting the already spacious and well cared for front. But given the fact that it took a lot longer than ten minutes to get from one end of the wall to the other before turning the corner to see the gate, he'd say it was a lot more than he would want to bother himself with attempting to calculate.

 

Now that he thought about it actually, he was lucky he'd entered from the more 'frontal' side of the wall during the one night he'd attempted to break in; had it been any further back, he'd have likely been screwed over completely thanks to the distance. Though it wasn't like that really mattered now he supposed. He came to the gate, fishing around his pocket for his security ID before scanning it in the machine. Briefly, as the computer registered his number to open the gate with a click he looked over the card. Sheesh, his picture looked so... Serious. Of course they'd specifically told him not to smile, and to just stare at the camera but... Still. He pocketed the card again, turning briefly as the gate shut behind him again before looking back at the mansion. Man. For all the security this place had, he really had to wonder why Seto bothered with guards. If she didn't have any, the cameras would have likely caught him easily before! Of course, cameras couldn't well pummel a guy to the ground soooo...

 

There went that suggestion. Not to mention even with the recently placed 'decorative spikes' on the wall (probably the only good thing about the board of directors actually), it was still pretty easy to climb over it. He pulled the bag of food from his shoulder, shrugging the thoughts off as he made his way to the front door. The door of course wasn't locked. With all that was going on, there wasn't really so much need for a key at the door as there was around the gate, but in any case... Christmas time was here, and he was ready! Kyouko had agreed to move her kotatsu and nabe into the kitchen for the moment. It was sitting behind the counter, along with the present he'd wrapped the night before. It was simple wrapping. Mostly pieced together from a few paper bags, but all in all he decided that flashy paper would probably just bug Seto a lot. He had considered painting the paper as well but...

 

Well, in the end he decided otherwise. He did throw in a card for good measure though. Tried to draw Blue-Eyes on it too, though... That didn't work out too well. Better than the last time he'd tried to draw though, he'd give it that. The blond tapped his shoes against the step, pushing through the door to pull his shoes off. "Tadaima," he shouted from habit, shoes hanging from his hand with the bag of food as he looked around. Eyes widened as he took a few steps into the foyer, shaking his head. "Woah..." Needless to say, the difference between when Seto had left that morning and what the house looked like now was astonishing. He hadn't paid much attention outside of course; he was a little busy balancing the bag of food as he skidded across a patch of ice but...

 

Wow. Katsuya took a few more steps forward, shoes and food still hanging from his hands. Long green garlands of pine and holly wove around the staircase railings, sprigs of mistletoe and a few pots of poinsettia's decorating what little he could see of the hall. Tinsel lined the pine branches, and even hung around the chandelier above him. Candles were sitting on the normally unused stands along the walls, flickering warmly in the dim light around them. All in all, Mokuba had done a lot in the time he was gone, not to mention whoever else was left in the house. Speaking of Mokuba, where-

 

"Boo!”

 

"NYHAAA!" The blond jumped, barely catching the food and shoes he held before whirling on Mokuba with a frown. "O-Oi!" he shouted, the boy merely laughing in response. "I've got breakables in here!" Well... The eggs were breakable at least (please don't be broken...).

 

Mokuba merely grinned, arms crossed despite the long lengths of tinsel in his arms. "Hehehe... Whoops?" He shook his head, before gesturing to the foyer around them as a few strands of tinsel clung to his hair. "So what do you think?" he asked with wide eyes, looking up at Katsuya expectantly. "The remaining staff and I are decorating for Christmas while nee-sama is gone, how are we doing?"

 

He continued looking at the hall, giving a slow nod and deciding not to compare Mokuba to a small Christmas tree for the moment. "Y' did good," he muttered, shaking his head. "Like... Really good! This is... Incredible," he said, looking down at Mokuba with still wide eyes. "How long 've you guys been workin' on this?" Mokuba shrugged, shaking his head and moving to dump the pile of tinsel on the side of the stairs.

 

"Hnn... Not sure," he said, looking back at the hall to scratch a few threads from his hair. "Depends on who you talk to... I know that Kyouko has been working for most of the day now..." Yeah that sounded like her... "And Isono disappeared somewhere to handle a few other things... Anyways," he continued, turning to look up at Katsuya with a renewed grin. "Do you want to help? I think Hobson is putting up lights in the backyard, and we're mostly done in here..." Hobson? But he was...

 

The blond blinked, frowning. "Er... How's he puttin' lights on the trees if he's usin' a cane..?" That sounded just a bit impossible, wasn't that guy old enough to be Seto's grandpa?

 

The boy again shrugged, walking off toward one of the lower hallways. "Beats me," he said, frowning. "I think he had help from one of the servants, but I can't be sure... Anyways," he said with a nod, looking back at Katsuya. "The back door is over here, follow me!"

 

Katsuya blinked, before looking at his bag and mentally smacking himself. "W-Wait," he shouted, jogging up to the boy as he turned. "I gotta put this in th' kitchen first, alrigh?"

 

"...The kitchen?" Mokuba asked, staring somewhat owlishly at the bag. The expression abruptly shifted into an odd grin, the boy moving back toward Katsuya. "...You know, I could do that if you want..."

 

He shook his head, pulling the bag back with a frown as Mokuba reached for it. "Hehehe, naw... I think I c'n handle it myself..." This apparently was the wrong thing to say; most likely because it increased Mokuba's evident suspicion as to something important being in the bag. Something important that likely concerned him.

 

"Are you sure?" he asked, continuing to reach for the bag with a grin. "It doesn't look like much..."

 

"Gh-" He tensed, holding the bag above his head as Mokuba continued to reach it. "Very sure," he shouted, before bolting for the door to the kitchen. He turned the corner, Mokuba chasing behind him as he continued to shout. "Y' ain't gettin' this bag," he called, turning back to look at the boy.

 

He continued to reach, tripping over himself as he ran. "Let me see what's in it!"

 

"NO!"

 

"Pleaaaase?"

 

"I said N-"

 

The chase abruptly stopped, Katsuya just about bowling Kyouko over as the maid stepped out of the kitchen. "Ah!" The woman jumped, the boys both narrowly preventing the bag from falling over as the woman stood there. There were a few seconds of silence as the maid looked over the two, eyes wide with minute shock. "Wh...What on earth is going on..? J-Jonouchi... Mokuba-sama..?"

 

Mokuba laughed, grinning sheepishly as Katsuya sighed in relief. Well, no one was hurt so... "Nothin'," he said with a groan, holding the bag out for the maid to nervously take. The woman took the bag in both hands, leaving the blond with his shoes as he continued. "Y' think you could keep this from Mokuba f'r me?"

 

She blinked, before peering in the bag and raising an eyebrow. "This is just f-... Ahhhh..." She nodded with realization, closing the bag up in her hands before bowing her head. "Of course..." Yeaaaah, that's right... Food for the nabe he was borrowing. So... Please don't say anything. "Alright then," she said with a small bow, before looking over to Mokuba with a warning smile. "Don't try anything..."

 

Katsuya held back a shudder, blinking a few times. ...How the hell did she manage to make that sound more like a threat? The boys shared a glance, with Mokuba hurriedly nodding in response as he looked back. "Ah... O-ok," he shouted, coughing. "I got it!" With that Kyouko nodded, before disappearing back into the kitchen with an odd smile. A few moments of silence passed, the shorter of the two fixing Katsuya with a glare. "Nghh... Katsuya-nii, did you really have to do that...?"

 

He merely shrugged, shoes still hanging from one of his hands. "Hey," he protested, crossing his arms. "Had t' do somethin' t' keep 'm from yah! Sides," he added with a grin, laughing at the pouting frown he got in response. "You'll find out later t'day..."

 

"Gh-" Mokuba bristled, growing red in the face. "T-That just makes me want to know even more!"

 

"Hahahahaha..."

 

A cough from the end of the hall took their attention, Mokuba and Katsuya both blinking as Hobson made his way down the hall. It was slow going of course, what with the man limping on a cane. It was honestly a miracle in his opinion, that Hobson was still alive after what happened at Death-T. More so that he had returned to work within a few weeks, albeit with a fair amount of physiotherapy on the side. As it turned out the voltage on his chair had been no different from that of the other chairs, which really were charged to '100,000'. What he learned from there however- though who knew if he'd understood correctly- was that the voltage could have been double that and it wouldn't have killed him.

 

Rather, the 'amperage'- the current, or whatever- was what controlled the fatality. The voltage affected something, that was for sure; from what he could get, the higher the number, the higher the pain, and the pain had likely been more than enough to render Hobson motionless when he'd been shocked. But it was the amount of amps in the electricity that would determine life or death, and the level had in actuality been extremely low. Hobson had suffered some burns, and a little more than that on top of the pain, but he had survived.

 

At the cost of the nerve function in an already bum leg. Despite the crippling blow he continued his job with a determination that more than explained why he was one of the few staff remaining despite his age, the 'staff purge', and the fact that he had been one of the people directly involved with Death-T. "Oh," the old man said with raised eyebrows, the sunglasses on his face dully reflecting the hall light as he ambled forward. "I was about to look for you, Mokuba-sama..." The man hobbled over, Mokuba blinking as Hobson stopped a few feet away to lean on his cane.

 

"Hn? What is it?" the boy asked, Katsuya as well looking down at the man.

 

"Oh nothing much," he said, waving his hand somewhat dismissively. "Odoru just left for the end of his work shift you see, so I need someone to help with the last of the lights..." Mokuba looked up at Katsuya, giving an odd smile before the blond shrugged.

 

Well, not like he was doing anything else. "Eh... I'm free," he said, free hand placed in his pocket as he looked down at the old man. "Lead th' way!"

 

The old man nodded, smiling. "If you say so," he said with a bow, turning slightly. "Mokuba-sama," he added, pointing down the hall with a slight nod, "You should probably make sure the den is prepared..."

 

The boy paled at those words, hurriedly nodding and running off with wide eyes as Katsuya stared at the spot he had stood in moments before. "Ah..." Ok, that was weird. Whatever was supposed to be 'prepared' must have been important. The blond turned back to Hobson, the old man slowly making his way back down the hall. Time to work right? Katsuya easily caught up with the man, shoes thumping at his side as he walked. "Oi... What was that abou'?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, Hobson merely chuckling in response.

 

"Lets just say," he said with a somewhat conniving smile that reminded the blond of less than cheery days, "That Seto-sama will be in for a very large surprise when she returns home from work." The chuckling continued, Katsuya blinking with the words. A surprise? More surprising than the rest of the house? He thought for a moment, frowning. Ok. If whatever was outside that room was going to pale in comparison to that then... He shook it off, instead pulling his shoes on with a slight hop as the back door came into view. "Now then," the man stated, gesturing to a few boxes on the side. Katsuya looked up from where he was tying his second shoe, nodding. "If you could carry those for me..."

 

Another nod, Katsuya grabbing the large box of lights before turning as Hobson held the door open. "Righ'... I got it," Katsuya said with a grunt, adjusting his grip on the fairly heavy box. Sheesh, how many lights were in this thing? ...Where the hell did they come from even, these things were gathering dust! "So how many tress do we-" He froze, gaping as he looked at the backyard for what had been the first time since the middle of the night when he'd attempted to break into the house all those months before. Now that there was sunlight to guide him rather than just house lights detailing the first

part, the differences were alarming. "H... Holy shit," he muttered, turning to Hobson as the old man made his way out and shut the door. Looking back at the yard of now barren trees he stared, breath creating a steady cloud of vapor in front of him. It was _huge_ \- the amount of upkeep they probably needed must have been impossible. He could barely see the wall at the back through the number of trees! "How big is this place?"

 

Again Hobson chuckled, waving the boy over to follow him down the seemingly empty backyard. "Trust me," he said with a laugh, cane sinking through the few centimeters of snow as they walked. "If I told you," he said with a clearly humored tone, "You would likely not be awake for more than a few seconds with the surprise." What? Wait, and what was that supposed to mean? "Now then," the old man stated, cane leaving a steady and even trail of small indents in the snow beside their footprints. "There isn't too much left to set up with lights for now, just a few trees that line the back stables..." A few trees, alright... "I could also use some help with feeding the horses however, if you wouldn't mind," he continued, looking back at the blond. Huh. Help with the horses, never done that before but that didn't sound too- Wait.

 

Waiiiiit... Katsuya frowned, blinking a few times as the words registered. "We... We have horses?"

 

"Well..." Hobson appeared to pause, frowning as he looked for the right words. He stopped walking for a moment, before moving on with a wave. "To say we own them would be the loosest of terms... Technically," the man stated with a small grunt as he hobbled over a few tree roots, "The horses belong to the late Gozaburo-sama, bound to this home by his will and testament." He pointed toward a distant looking 'shack', before looking toward Katsuya and continuing on. "Seto-sama herself," he continued, the blond beside him adjusting his grip on the basket. "Does not likely know they are even here, let alone pay to care for them."

 

The frown deepened, Katsuya adjusting his grip on the box of lights. Er... If... The horses were technically owned by a dead man and paid for by a dead man... "If Seto-chan doesn' know abou' th' horses," he asked, Hobson visibly gaining a humored smile with the honorific used for his employer, "Then how'r yah lookin' after them?" Not to mention why... If no one was using them then what was the point?

 

Hobson merely smiled, chuckling slightly as he shook his head. "Well," the man started, "It's one thing when it's only one person taking care of the horses," he stated calmly, the stables now in plain sight from where they stood. "It's completely different however, when a large portion of the staff takes their free time and a small bit of their own money to do so." So then... A bunch of the servants and maids were looking after the horses? Huh. The recent clean sweep had to have put a sizable kink in that plan then. But if that was the case, even with that going on...

 

"...Why bother wi' that?" he asked with a frown, again adjusting his hold on the basket as a few cables hung off the edge. "I mean... Wouldn' Seto-chan jus' pay for 'm herself if she knew about them?"

 

The man hurriedly shook his head, almost tipping on a nearby root as he frowned. "Oh no," he said almost with a hush, Katsuya almost flinching at the answer. "No no no, most certainly not," he stated, voice low and almost incredulous. Er... Sorry for suggesting it? "I'm sure that if things had happened differently..." He trailed off, before coughing as Katsuya raised an eyebrow. "I should explain," he

said somewhat gruffly, voice rasping as he went on. "Seto-sama would just as soon kill the animals as she would keep them," he said somewhat bluntly, the pair walking along the flat lawn as Hobson continued. "You see, a good number of years before, shortly after Seto-sama came here," he explained, "Gozaburo-sama attempted to give his only horse at the time, an extremely passive stallion by all accounts to her for use in horse-back riding." Er...

 

Horse-back riding? That seemed kind of...

 

Hobson apparently noted the confused expression, smiling as he explained. "It's a tradition of sorts, she's quite likely the first to break it," he stated with a somewhat nonchalant tone before going on. "Now then, where was I... When Gozaburo-sama presented Seto-sama with 'Kuma', the horse I am referring to," he stated, the 'shack' ahead revealing itself to be a small stable house. "And stepped back, just for a moment, the first thing it did was rear on it's hindlegs, and attempt to strike the girl down from where she stood! She was pulled away of course," he continued, "And there were no injuries, quite thankfully... But needless to say," he added with a grave tone, shaking his head. "Seto-sama was most certainly unwilling to go anywhere near the beast after that point!" Er. Yeah. He could see why that would happen.

 

Katsuya swallowed, letting out a long sigh as he shook his head. He'd... Probably hate horses too if he was just about beaned in the head by one. "Er... Alrigh' then," he said with a frown, shaking his head again. Ok. So horses were not something she was into then. "If Seto-chan hates horses so much," he asked with a frown, turning back down to Hobson, "Then why bother keepin' them?"

 

He merely waved the blond off, shaking his head as they passed the entrance of the stables. "Oh trust me," he said dismissively, “You'll find out soon enough." The man steadily made his way to a small cluster of five trees, motioning for Katsuya to put the basket down. "But you will keep your mouth shut!" he 'ordered', the blond jumping as a suddenly militant-esque shout was uttered. "Understand me? For at least today," he added, pointing at the blond almost accusingly. The blond swallowed, nodding. S-Sheesh...

 

He'd never heard him shout like that before! "Gh... No problem," he said with a nervous laugh, putting the basket down. "W-Will do!" He calmed himself down, watching as the old man before him leaned on his cane to pull out some lights. The sky was slowly getting dark now. They still had plenty of time to hang the lights on the trees though. "So... How many trees left around here?"

 

"Just these ones," Hobson said with a small grunt, attempting to untangle a few of the wires as a large pile came out from the side. Katsuya as well began pulling a few out, looking at a few of the knots and dust with raised eyebrows before attempting to pull the cables apart. Damn. These did not have a happy existence. "There are very few trees in the back as opposed to the front," he explained, tossing a loose end of cable to the side. "Otherwise the horses have nowhere to run or graze... The trees," he explained, pulling a full line free as his 'assistant' continued to growl at the large knot he was stuck with, "Are more of a barrier than a decoration; with so many there, the siblings tend not to bother with anything beyond." Huh...

 

Alright then. He supposed that would help with managing to trick Seto into believing there were no horses in her backyard. Katsuya continued to pull at the cables, before finally gaining headway on the one end. "Aha!" He grinned, only to turn as Hobson coughed. He already had about three or so strings free to use, having started on a fourth. Compared to his 'start'... "Er..."

 

The old man smirked, roughly pulling the 'knot' from the blond's hands. "How about you put the lights on the trees while I handle this," he 'asked', Katsuya laughing in response.

 

"Haha... Yeah," he decided, taking one of the free cables and rolling it on his shoulder. "Prob'bly a good idea," he added, moving to the farthest tree. He had a feeling there was no real question of a power source for the lights; climbing the tree and wrapping the cables around the outermost branches, he took care to leave the plugs hanging either near the stable or the next tree before moving back to the box for more lights, linking more cables together when he ran out of line and continuing on his way. The stables likely had lights themselves after all; in fact, given the box beside it, it was likely the source of all the backyard lighting. He hopped down the tree to grab a few more cables, slowly making a trail of lights from one tree to the next as he worked.

 

The trees back there weren't too big to tell the truth; it was fairly easy to just shimmy up the side and get to work, and by the end of it all, there were no more lights left in the box. The cables were plugged in together to form a long line in the air, and watching as Hobson punched a code into the metal 'cabinet' beside the stable the blond held silent. As figured, this was where all the lights were connected. So as soon as the right switches were hit, the entire backyard would likely light up. The blond looked up to the sky a moment, blinking as he drifted into thought. The snow had slowed up from earlier that day. Rather than blowing about in a blizzard-like fashion, it was now calmly falling from the sky where a brilliant moon hovered amongst a few barely visible clouds and stars. What few flakes hit his face melted in an instant.

 

And though he wasn't quite sure why he was staring, he couldn't stop. "Now then," Hobson was muttering, looking over the various switches he'd uncovered. Katsuya looked down from the sky with those words, watching as the old man before him traced a finger down the row of switches. "One two and... Aha."

 

_-click_

 

Lights abruptly filled the air, Katsuya's eyes widening as the yard was filled with specks of colour. Row by row the trees were lit, both those behind him and the ones filling the upper part of the yard. It was a sea of light. Even the mansion itself had been lit up, lights lining the balconies and roof, visible quite clearly in the distance of the yard as the light hum of electricity met his ears. "Woah," he whispered, staring at the lights. "This 's..." He shook his head, staring. He'd only done five trees, think of how long it took for the rest... And about what the front looked like! "This 's incredible... You've been doin' this all day?" he asked, turning to Hobson with wide eyes.

 

The man shrugged, closing the box with a loud clack before locking it up and hobbling over on his cane. "Well now, I wouldn't say all day," he said with a humored chuckle, making his way to the stable entrance. He opened the door, holding it open and turning to the blond behind him. "Now how about you help with the horses, like you said you would?"

 

He nodded, following after with a cough. "Right," he muttered, walking into the stable as the door was closed quietly behind him. It was fairly large... Well, the building was large, but it obviously wasn't the biggest set of stables in existence. There was room for three horses from the looks of the stalls built along the sides but only two spots had been filled. Those spots in question were kept across and diagonal the other, one held almost beside him and the other at the far end.

 

Taking a few steps forward in the stable his eyes wandered around in silence as Hobson turned around to pull a few things from a rack on the side. "Now I need you to listen very carefully as I do this," he was saying, the blond paying him only about half his attention as he looked around. A light snort was given from the side, the blond turning to face one of the horses. The horse was white for the most part; its muzzle- rather the skin- was black, and almost as dark as the horse's eyes. As he continued to stare however it quickly gave another snort, clomping away to turn around from the teen.

 

He shook his head, Hobson's continued muttered instructions still fading out in the air as he moved toward the back of the stable. This was the second horse. He looked across from where the horse stood, staring at the empty stall. Why was there an extra spot though? The horse behind him nickered, brown head moving forward as it leaned over its stable door to look at the blond. Katsuya in question jumped slightly, turning as the horse continued to amble its head closer to the teen. "Er... H-Hey," he whispered, hesitantly raising a hand above the creature's nose. The horse snorted, drawing back slightly before moving close again. "H-Hey there," he said quietly, slowly putting a hand on the beast's muzzle before beginning to stroke it. "H-Hah... Yer pretty cool..." Huh. This wasn't too bad, this horse was pretty sweet actually...

 

Hobson was still talking, but it was only just now that any words were making sense. "...And above all else," the man was saying in the background, turning around with a bucket as Katsuya continued stroking the silent and obviously pleased horse. "Be sure to stay as far from the brown one as-" The man froze, Katsuya turning with a slight jump and bringing his hand down. "Good lord boy did you not hear me when I said stay PUT!" Er, no?

 

The blond blinked, coughing as he realized what Hobson had just said a few seconds before. The brown one? "Er... W-What was that abou' stayin' away from a horse?" he asked nervously, before turning as the horse behind him began nibbling at his hair. He frowned, watching as the steed pulled slightly at a few strands. "O-Oi," he muttered, pulling away as the horse gave a snort. "Stop that!"

 

Hobson gave a wheezing and unnerved cough, before hobbling over and quickly tugging the blond back to the other side of the stables. "That means stay away..!" he muttered with seeming nervousness, the horse in question giving a light snort before turning away from them both. Katsuya stumbled slightly, pulling himself off and looking back. Alright, alright... The man beside him gave a long sigh, looking back to the brown horse and shaking his head. "My god..." He shook his head, leaning against his cane while he rubbed his head. "That beast," he muttered with disbelief, Katsuya raising his eyebrows in confusion. "That is the one I warned you of on our way here."

 

He blinked, eyes wide. Warning? Wait, so the one who just about nailed Seto in the face was... "Wait... That's Kuma?" he asked incredulously, the horse in question pulling his head up in response to his name. It stared for a few moments, before turning back to what looked to be a bucket of water. Erm... Not quite as fearsome and bear-like as expected. More like a teddy bear actually.

 

Nonetheless Hobson nodded furiously, and if he could see past the man's sunglasses he was pretty sure he would have seen extremely wide eyes. "Most definitely," he stated seriously, turning back to look at the horse. "That is most definitely him," he said quietly, expression sour as he went on. "That horse hasn't shown affection of that level since Noa-sama's passing," he muttered, gripping his cane

tightly. "But you!" he continued, turning on the boy with a scowl. "Do you know how lucky you are to be alive you fool? Pay attention!" The blond stepped back, scratching his head under the shouts. Sheesh, alright, he got it! Don't mess around with 'Noa's horse, ok... Wait.

 

Katsuya frowned, bringing his hands down to his pockets. "...Noa?" he repeated, staring at Hobson. "Who th' heck 's 'Noa'?"

 

The old man visibly shuddered with that name, shaking his head in what looked to be grief. "Yes that's right," he muttered, hobbling back to where he'd dropped the bucket. "You wouldn't know who Noa-sama was, he was... He was far before your time," the man said with a sigh. He carried the bucket over to a large barrel of sorts, turning back to Katsuya as he grabbed a 'scoop'. "Noa-sama," he began, "Was Gozaburo-sama's first and only biological son." The guy had a kid? He blinked, listening as Hobson gave a low sigh before continuing. "He was twelve years old," the man continued, scooping piles of what looked to be mixed grains and hay into a bucket, "Almost thirteen in fact, when he was hospitalized... Thirteen when he finally moved on. It has been... Eight years," he decided, pulling the now mostly full bucket from the bench and carrying it to the white horse's stall. "Nine come August... Since he's been gone. He was struck head on by a car," he continued somewhat bitterly, Katsuya following the man back to the barrel of feed in silence as he listened, "And for a short time, by some miracle he lived. Every bone in his body was fractured," he cried, pouring the feed into a bucket on the side of the white horse's stall, "Not a single part of him untouched!" he shouted, voice laced thickly with disbelief. "But for a short time," he finished quietly, "He was indeed alive... Comatose and barely there, but he was alive... Until finally, Gozaburo-sama was told there was nothing more they could do. His organs were useless, bones mere shards... And his spine was so crushed that it would be impossible for him to live, even if the rest of him recovered. He lasted until a week past his thirteenth birthday," he muttered, cane clacking against the ground. "And then, with the flick of a switch, he was gone."

 

Hobson gave a long and morose sigh, silent for a few moments with those words. It was an awkward silence, one that he didn't even dare to try and break. In the end it was Hobson who broke it, the man turning to look up at Katsuya with a blank and possibly depressed frown. "I understand you likely share similar beliefs on Gozaburo-sama as Mokuba-sama, and Seto-sama as well," he continued, feed scoop clutched in his hand. "But despite his many flaws, if there was one thing that man was, it was a father- he tried everything in existence to save that boy, and when it all fell through... Well. It affected him, pulling that plug. It truly did..." He sighed, shaking his head and turning away again. "He would have been 21 by now," Hobson stated almost wistfully, leaning on his cane. "And I believe that a majority of Seto-sama's grief from the man might be for that reason..."

 

Katsuya frowned, hands in his pockets as he spoke. "Reason?" he repeated, watching as Hobson began to re-fil the bucket with feed. "What reason..?"

 

The man paused for a moment, before turning to face the blond. "Well you see," he said almost hesitantly, pausing for a moment before moving on. "There was one reason, one incredibly key factor in the initial reason why Gozaburo-sama agreed to adopt Seto-sama and her brother..." Again the man paused, as though carefully choosing his next few words. "If you were to look at a photograph of Noa-sama," he stated seriously, an odd gleam of light coming off of his sunglasses, "And you compared it to an image of Seto-sama at the same age... There would be one difference, only one, and that would be naught but the colour of their hair. Never before," Hobson stated with a tense nod, filling the bucket at the side with feed and pulling it from the bench, "Never before did two completely unrelated children look so similar! It was as though they were long lost siblings, separated from an early age," he added, shaking his head. "With that in mind," Hobson continued, cane clacking against the ground as he walked toward the back, "I believe that Gozaburo-sama might have been. Frustrated... That this 'son' he had taken in, this child who was by all appearances his long deceased boy, did not react to things in the same way, did not enjoy the same things he had. They are very alike that is true, but with that in mind there is no doubt in the differences between them."

 

Of course there were differences, Katsuya found himself thinking immediately in response. Seto was Seto, not some other kid! He continued to frown, watching as Hobson dumped the bucket of feed into the corresponding bucket for Kuma before leaving the stall in a hurry when the horse gave an angered snort. It was just bizarre. Seto was meant to... _Replace_ Noa? As in, fill some void and memory? What kind of memory would it be then, if it could be replaced? "Tch..." He grit his teeth, shaking his head as Hobson slowly walked back toward the rack of tools to put the bucket back. "No offense Hobson," he muttered, looking over to the horses. "But personally, that jus' makes th' guy a hell 'f a lot worse in my head... Not t' mention scary as hell."

 

Hobson paused, before giving a defeated shrug and shaking his head at the statement. "Yes well..." He put the bucket to the side, before moving to hold the door open for Katsuya. "I suppose I expected as much," he continued, wind blowing in through the door as the now soft breeze gusted through.

 

Good. Least that meant there were no weird hard feelings, work would be awkward otherwise. Speaking of all that business with 'Noa'... "Hey... Does Seto-chan know about this?" Katsuya asked, following Hobson out of the stables with a frown.

 

The man shook his head, somewhat shocked scowl deeply ingrained on his face as he turned to the blond. "Most certainly not!" he shouted incredulously, leading Katsuya back from the stables to head toward the house as the blond winced. "The news would at the very best give her a heart attack!" Er, that didn't sound like 'best'... Was Seto really the heart-attack type? "Give it some thought," the man demanded with a frown, jabbing a finger at him. "How would you likely react if you realized that your entire position was based on the twist of fate that you so resembled another person that you could likely take their very place? And that this was the only reason for your existence in that position!"

 

The blond blinked, turning away for a moment with that thought. Er... Yeah, being put somewhere because he looked like someone sounded just a bit creepy. "Nyh... That..." He coughed, rubbing the back of his neck as he shook his head. "That's a damn good point. Shit," he said with a nervous laugh, attempting to lighten the situation. "That'd scare th' crap outta me..."

 

"An 'eloquent' way of putting it," Hobson said dryly, walking along the slightly filled in trail of footprints the pair had left behind. "But yes... The news would assuredly instill at best, a good amount of momentary fear with the realization." So basically it would scare the crap out of her.

 

Katsuya swallowed, nodding in agreement. Heh... Yeah... He had a feeling he knew how that would end too, given how she'd responded to other things that 'scared' her. He let out a long breath, watching as it fogged into the air before speaking again. "...So," he said with a cough, attempting to change the subject. "What exactly are th' plans f'r Christmas?" That was always a good fall-back plan for the subject, right?

 

...He would miss being able to fall on that when the holidays were over. The man beside him turned, staring in silence for a moment as he continued to walk. "Well," he began, a grin appearing on his face. "I can tell you this; it's very big." Big eh? Like size big or just 'big'?

 

"Y' sure Seto-chan'll be alright with that?" he asked somewhat nervously, eliciting a loud laugh from the old man.

 

"Ohhh I doubt she'll admit it," he said with a grin, a steady 'thump' noise coming from his cane as he moved from the snow covered lawn to the back porch. "But I'm almost certain she'll enjoy it, however grudgingly," he added with a wink. Was grudgingly a good thing? "I'll make sure of at least that much," he continued with gained volume, pausing in his steps only momentarily before heading up the porch steps. "At least that much." Heh?

 

The blond blinked, staring as they came under the porch 'roof'. "Nyh... Whadya mean, 'at least that much'," he asked, Hobson in question dropping the grin.

 

There was a long, drawn out sigh in response, the man stopping in place with a deep frown. "It's something that I have only just come to recall," he admitted, shaking his head and rubbing it somewhat. "During the Death-T event, shortly after you and your friends moved on from the 'Electric Chair' ride I had hosted" he explained, "I could do nothing but sit completely still and wait. Wait for a paramedic, or perhaps even another member of staff... Anyone," he said with a shrug, taking a seat on the somewhat dry patio chair to the side. "It gave me quite a bit of time to think, as I'm sure you can imagine." Yeah... A long time he bet. "More than enough time," he said bitterly, hands clenching his cane top. "Enough so that when I first came to realize that my would be victims were not the usual threats, or possible 'loose threads' so to speak, but rather a group of children who, besides yourself and your friend, largely had nothing to do with the very one who gave those orders!" There was another sigh, Hobson shaking his head before continuing as he stared to the side. "Through all my years," he muttered, eyes still unseen behind his sunglasses. "I have seen many things, things that would likely make your fine hair turn blacker than coal... I've been in war, I've been tortured... I have tortured," he said with a slight shrug, the blond across from him coughing awkwardly with the statement. "And through all my years, I have lived to serve this family, for whatever task is asked of me. Be it house cleaning, or 'persuasion by other means... I have been there," he stated, bowing his head. "When I was first called upon for the 'Death-T' event," he continued, "I did not put too much thought to the matter. You could say I had become too used to things, too blind to what was happening. Orders were orders, and in comparison to a few tasks that those before her had given, it was quite light to tell the truth. But sitting there," he muttered darkly, appearing to stare off as he shook his head. "It was only at that moment that I recalled that the orders to effectively kill and maim by any means possible had not been given by a hardened soldier with recent ties to an arms maker, nor by a businessman looking to cut off possible competition," he added with a shudder, tone darkening even more. "Instead, they had come from a child, a woman younger than my own granddaughter! From a girl who had grown up far too quickly for this world," he added darkly, Katsuya staring at the man with a small and confused frown. "Far too quickly..."

 

What was he supposed to say to that? The blond swallowed, an awkward silence falling through the air as snow continued to fall outside the 'roof' boundaries. All that was... Well, news of apparently worse things happening there aside, that was... Wait.

 

He blinked, the last few words slamming him mentally. Wait, younger than his granddaughter? How old was his granddaughter! Katsuya shook his head, staring. "Seto-chan's... Younger than yer grandkid?" he asked quietly, shaking his head again. "Wh... How old are you?"

 

Hobson chuckled darkly, shaking his head as an odd grin appeared on his face. "Ohhh, far, far older than I should be according to the work place rules," he stated with a grunt, pulling himself up from the tree roots. "Far older... I am Seventy-three," he stated with a short chuckle, bowing his head as the blond gaped. "I have been serving this family for three generations now, since Gozaburo-sama himself was but this tall" he continued, a wry smile in place as he gestured below his own height. "Though I sincerely doubt I will be doing so for much longer than that," he added, shaking his head. "Now," he continued, moving toward the door to pull it open with a grunt. "I could go on for hours and hours on what my life has been spent doing... But I think that such stories are for another time," he said with another bow, a bit of light from the inside revealing what would ordinarily be covered by sunglasses. One eye was half closed, aged and withered like the rest of the man, and the other...

 

Katsuya gave a somewhat involuntary shudder, pushing the image of what was certainly no longer an eye from mind. Nothing but a strange, stitched over and almost mutated wound. Something told him that was one of those 'for another time' stories. He had to agree with Hobson on that. The stories were definitely for another time. Deeeefinitely... For another time. "G-Good plan," he said with a cough, turning his head away before walking into the hall. Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think...

 

"Needless to say," the man went on from beside him, door closing with a small click before he turned back. "When I think about what she's missed, and compare that to my own granddaughter..." He shook his head, stooping somewhat awkwardly to pull of his shoes. "The fact that I did not realize how horribly twisted everything was shaping up to be... It is something I certainly doubt I will ever forgive myself for. And for that reason," Hobson stated quietly, exchanging his shoes for slippers as Katsuya made with walking in his socks. "No matter what happens, I plan to treat Seto-sama not as some old, hardened and battle ready businessman, as her image in Kaiba Corporation would suggest... But as the young woman she is," the man stated quietly, cane once again making steady 'clack' noises across the floor. "To an acceptable extent of course, no doubt. She is after all, still running her own company. But if 'acceptable' means holding a somewhat 'last minute' Christmas celebration," he added with a shrug, the blond beside him giving a wry smirk at the action, "Well, then that is exactly what I will do!"

 

He laughed, shaking his head. Anything it took eh? Not a bad plan... "Heh... Can't wait t' see her reaction t' this then," Katsuya said with a grin, the blond slowly pulling off his coat and slinging it over his shoulder. "Y' sure yer gonna be alive by the time this is over with," he added, grin widening as they moved down the hall. "No m'sterious abs'nces?"

 

Hobson waved a hand, limping on his cane with a chuckle. "Ohhh... If I don't," he said with a smirk, "I can guarantee to you that it's of natural causes rather than the wrath of my current employer...khkhkhkhkh..."

 

Don't laugh like that please.

 

Chuckling filled the air, Katsuya shaking his head at the sound before a cough came from the side. The two turned, watching as Kyouko hesitantly made her way out of the kitchen with a bowed head. "Is everything ready?" she whispered, looking over the two and taking a nervous glance down the hall. Despite her somewhat flustered expression, she had somehow managed to keep her uniform in pristine condition; and given the shouts and clattering noises from inside the room, that was probably quite the feat. "The food is prepared and ready," she continued, turning to the two once more and biting her lip. "And the 'den' is completely prepared..."

 

Katsuya looked down to Hobson, watching as the man bowed his head. "Everything is prepared," he stated with a firm and confirming tone, cane held almost at 'attention'. "Now then," the man continued. "After you, my dear."

 

"R-Right," she said quietly, nodding her head politely before moving past the two. "This way... We're to wait in the foyer with Mokuba-sama..." Wait for wh- The blond blinked, before nodding. Right... Of course. Wait for Seto. ...Boy he hoped she didn't blame him for this if she hated it. That would royally suck. They moved on toward the foyer in silence, before a quiet groan from the front pulled their attention. "Ohhhh..." Kyouko frowned, moving around the stair rail before turning back to the others. "We're too late..." Heh?

 

Too late? Katsuya looked around the woman, taking a few steps forward and staring. Accompanied by her clearly eager brother for the moment, Seto currently stood in the middle of the foyer, rubbing her forehead. Hahaha, well would you look at that, looked like someone was... Er. Could that be called surprised? Looked more like she was nursing a headache, though she'd stopped rubbing her head now...

 

The blond blinked as he spotted a third person in the foyer, watching as Isono walked over from his position behind the two. "I see you finished decorating," he said with an amused smile, Hobson limping forward to meet the man with a nod.

 

"You expected anything less?" he asked incredulously, eliciting a chuckle from the man.

 

"Well," he said with a smirk, stepping to the side to bring the others toward the middle of the foyer as he spoke. "I certainly didn't expect it from a crippled old man..."

 

Hobson snorted, Katsuya awkwardly scratching his head as the 'arguing' continued on while Kyouko merely rubbed her brow. "A crippled old man am I," Hobson asked, cane clacking against the ground. "We'll just see how this crippled old man fares against the _green_ business assistant then," he said mockingly. Ahhhhhgggghhh...

 

The blond mentally groaned, shaking his head. Why the hell was he listening to this? He blinked as the two in the house entrance turned, Mokuba grinning widely as his older sister raised her eyebrows. He could practically hear her thinking 'why now'. Oh well, too bad. "Ah, Katsuya-nii," Mokuba said with a grin, waving from beside his sister, the woman in question wincing far less than she had the first time she heard the term. "Is everything ready?" he asked, the answer coming from behind the blond.

 

"Of course," Kyouko said with a bow, Katsuya moving to the side as the maid continued. "I take it the day went well?" she asked politely, Seto blinking before giving a small nod in response to Kyouko's second deep bow.

 

"...It did," she said plainly, expression seemingly neutral for the moment.

 

The maid nodded, a smile on her face as she gestured behind her. "In that case," she stated, Hobson and Isono both leaving for another room as she continued. "We have dinner waiting... Shall I show you to the table, Seto-sama?"

 

There was a brief silence, Seto merely staring for a moment before nodding curtly. "That would be nice," she stated, moving forward to pass the maid to enter the coat room first. She had already pulled off her scarf it seemed, the coat quickly unbuttoned and hung up in an instant. In the same moment, Katsuya as well put his on one of the hangers, the blond stepping out to stand with the others as they waited. The briefcase was placed on the ground in the coat room in that moment, and soon enough Seto came out with her hands free and at her sides. "...Lead the way," she continued, Mokuba and Katsuya both watching the exchange. Ok! Time for food.

 

With another bow, Kyouko did just that and led them away, the three following behind her in relative silence. The plan had been set in place it would seem, and now, it was time to enact it.

 


	5. Sennen Omedetou

 

For all that dinner was and wasn't, Katsuya had to say- he didn't expect to end up in this room again, not after what had happened in it the last time they were there. The small dining room that had originally played home to the 'Russian Roulette' dinner table had been lavishly decorated for the holidays; the lamp light hanging from above had been dimmed down to a more peaceful mood, and the table in the center was far different from that of its black and red spinning counterpart. Rather, it was instead a far larger round table decorated with a white tablecloth, a plethora of foods covering it.

 

Needless to say there was just a small bit of surprise at the change in seating. "The breakfast room?" Seto asked with raised eyebrows, turning to Kyouko as the maid bowed.

 

She continued smiling, standing at the side to allow the others to sit. "That is correct Seto-sama," she said with a steep bow, looking to her employer's brother before continuing. "As a request from Mokuba-sama."

 

Seto looked at the boy in question, watching as he nodded furiously in agreement. "The normal table is big enough for almost _twenty_ people," he protested, a frown on his face as he somewhat glared at the woman. "I don't want to sit at something like that, with everyone on opposite ends... I want to sit with everyone together, beside each other!"

 

The woman stared at those words, the maid beside her leaving in the silence that resulted with a quick bow before vanishing into the kitchen. There was no answer to that; Seto was holding her seemingly standard 'blank' stare, Mokuba holding his 'glare'...

 

Katsuya decided to break the silence in the end, giving a short cough and looking at the table as the others turned. "Er... I dunno about you but..." He laughed, grinning nervously as he continued. "Shouldn' a dinner spent t'gether actually be spent eatin' it?"

 

Seto merely gave a rather unimpressed frown to that, while Mokuba nodded beside her. "That's right," he said as he dropped the frown, before looking up at his sister. "Nee-sama... Let's sit down, come on!" He tugged at the woman's arm, gaining a short nod in response.

 

"...Alright," she said somewhat quietly, walking over to the table as Katsuya took a seat. "Alright..." Seto took a seat, expression seemingly caught between her usual indifference and slight confusion. It was actually similar to the look she had when helping him out at the Duelist Kingdom, he thought to himself. The glare was there in shape, but not in emotion.

 

...Maybe Hobson was on to something? Not that he was going to be saying anything about that. They looked over the table, Katsuya staring at the large amount of food in silence. The still steaming food looked pretty good, that was for sure... And there was no doubt that it would taste just as good. "So... We jus' dig in?" he asked, Seto now sitting beside him with an expression that made it seem she was doing all in her power to ignore the blond.

 

Also beside him, Mokuba nodded. "Yep," he said with a grin, clearly enjoying the 'triangle' that sitting at the table put them in. "But finish the soup first," he added seriously, an unamused glare on his face.

 

Aww, what, he couldn't dig into the turkey first? Katsuya laughed nervously, glancing at Seto and watching as the woman in question raised an eyebrow at him. 'What are you looking at,' she seemed to ask, before he turned away. Nothing. Absolutely nothing, ehe...

 

Well! This soup wasn't going to finish itself after all. "Heh... Merry Chris'mas then," he said with a grin, before grabbing the spoon by his soup bowl. He would never get this whole 'multi-course meal' thing, he really wouldn't. Even so he thought as he started eating through the soup, he would try to appreciate it nonetheless. Besides, the soup wasn't too bad.

 

Though there was very little at the house that he didn't like in terms of the cooking when he got it here, and the exception was that one mushroom dish they'd tried a few weeks back... He continued at his soup, shaking it off. So what if that one mushroom thing tasted weird! The soup was great!

 

And it was absolutely better than the atmosphere at the table. It was pretty quiet, he thought as he downed the last of the soup. Really quiet. Awkwardly. Quiet. It was one thing when it was just the occasional breakfast that he was stuck with this. Back when they- or rather, he and Seto- hated each other. But there was something about the air around them that made him pretty sure this wasn't the 'leave my house or die' silence that they'd once had.

 

Mokuba seemed to notice as well actually, looking across the table at the blond before turning to Seto. "So..." He blinked, shifting in his seat somewhat as he attempted to start up some conversation. "How come you came home so late? Was there a lot of traffic?" Hn? She'd probably been working late, if the Christmas rush wasn't it? Especially with missing a day or so for Mokuba.

 

Katsuya turned as Seto looked over to her brother, her own soup almost finished as well. She stared for a brief moment in silence, before blinking. "...Isono was unavailable to drive," she said calmly, turning back to finish off her soup and moving to put the bowl carefully to the side. "I decided to walk back for a change," she continued dismissively, as though to end the topic as quickly as it started.

 

Mokuba blinked, as did the blond beside him before both shared a confused look. Ah... Walk? She walked? He knew she walked that one time when he and Yugi and the others didn't know who Seto was... Back when she'd stopped by the game store. But... Since when did she walk other than that one time 'Blue-Eyes' was involved?

 

For all their questions, it didn't appear that any of them were really willing to ask. "Oh," was all that the boy said, before finishing his soup as well and putting the bowl at the side to free the space on his plate. "Ah... ...Ok..."

 

Katsuya moved his bowl to the side himself, attempting to change the subject before they caught themselves in a loop of silence. "Er... So! Pretty good soup right?" the blond said with a small laugh, rubbing his head. The others looked back at their empty bowls, Seto merely staring at it a moment before shifting it further to the side.

 

"...I suppose," she eventually said, before standing up to fill her plate. Scoops of potatoes and green beans were placed mostly in silence on the plate, before she cut herself some turkey and sat back down in silence. The others stared as this went on, before turning back to each other with frozen half smiles on their faces. D-Damn it... How the hell did they get her to talk about anything?

 

He looked back at the food, shrugging it off and getting his own plate filled. Potatoes... Beans... What was that red stuff, cranberries? ...He'd try those too he supposed. "Er... Right then," he muttered, easily clearing out half of the table and sitting back down to start on his overflowing plate. "...Any ideas what's f'r dessert?" he asked with a grin, Mokuba blinking in response.

 

"Ah... I was trying to find that out actually," he said with wide eyes, grinning briefly at the thought of dessert himself. It quickly died however, and he continued. "...I tried every chance I got to get in the kitchen, but Kyouko kept me out each time..."

 

He gave a small shudder, Seto looking from her food at the expression and raising an eyebrow.

 

"K-Kyouko can be scary when she wants to be..."

 

Katsuya nodded, slightly pale. "Y-Yeah... T-Tell me about it..."

 

At this point, he noted that Seto was no longer looking at her food or Mokuba, but directly across from her with the same, somewhat surprised stare she'd had before. "..Hn?"

 

They turned, the boys growing slightly pale as Kyouko stood there with a slightly frightening smile on her face. "...I was about to ask," she started, the large jug in her hands shaking somewhat, "If anyone wished for some eggnog..."

 

Seto gave a somewhat amused smile, arms crossed as the boys both exchanged looks of horror with the realization of their eavesdropper's presence. "That would be good," she said calmly, the maid walking over to fill the woman's glass. She looked over at Katsuya, eyebrow raised in what looked to be amusement. "Thirsty at all, mutt?"

 

He tensed, choking for a moment before regaining his breath. "G-! I ain't a-..." Oh, what was the point! He scowled, holding his glass and staring at the plate with a red face. "...I'll take some too," he finally muttered under his breath, Kyouko cheerily pouring him a glass before moving toward Mokuba.

 

"Ah..." The boy turned, Kyouko's smile far more honest than frightening by this point. "Same here," the boy said with a renewed smile, watching as the frothy yellow drink filled the glass. He grabbed it, taking a sip before turning with an even larger grin. "Thank you!"

 

Kyouko bowed, smiling widely. "I'll be in the kitchen, for when the main course is complete, understand," she asked, the others nodding in response. "Enjoy the meal," the woman added, bowing as much as she could with a jug of eggnog in her hands before leaving.

 

The three turned back to their food, Katsuya looking at his plate with a regained grin. "Alrigh'! After this comes dessert!" he cheered, Mokuba grinning as well. He started scarfing down his food, the third member of the dinner party merely looking with evident annoyance. Were it not for the intensity of the glare, he likely wouldn't have even caught it. It didn't matter, he decided- he was busy, he was eating. Well...

 

He was until Seto finally voiced her annoyance anyway. "...Do you plan on eating the food?" the woman questioned with a growl, "Or simply inhaling it?" she finally asked, the blond turning to her as he swallowed the remains of his mashed potatoes.

 

Katsuya merely stared a few moments, clearing his throat before pointing across the table. "What, an' he ain't an issue?"

 

As Mokuba (whose mouth was currently reminiscent of a squirrel) put his hands up in mock defense, Seto merely continued to glare at the older of the two boys. "...As a matter of fact, no," she stated, returning to her food for a moment before looking at her brother. "...You shouldn't eat so fast though," she said somewhat quieter, "You'll end up with a stomach ache, and risk choking."

 

Her brother blinked, before nodding slowly and swallowing. "O... Ok nee-sama," he said, nodding. "I'll take smaller bites..." He looked back across at Katsuya, expression still somewhat the same. "But you do the same, alright Katsuya-nii?"

 

At that, he got a somewhat warning look from Seto in addition to the severe stare he got from the woman's brother, Katsuya laughing nervously. "Ahahaha... A-Alrigh', I will..." He moved to the last of his food, the nervous smile somewhat frozen on his face. "Sheesh, never got a stomachache b'fore..." He couldn't say the same about choking though, he'd admit.

 

Seto snorted, swallowing a bite of turkey before speaking. "That's probably because your stomach has about as much intelligence as you, and can't realize what's bad for it," she muttered, the blond sending her a glare in response. Seriously? Seriously?

 

He took a bite of his turkey, ignoring the comment and leaning back in his chair. "Yeah well," he muttered, swallowing his food. "Least I don' clam up until a chance t' insult a guy comes up..."

 

The woman merely stared, huffing somewhat. "Hn! That's because the concept of dinner tends to imply eating, and not talking."

 

"Eh?" the blond said with a shrug, grinning. "Who said y' can't do both?" He continued to grin, taking another large bite of his turkey despite earlier warnings.

 

Mokuba nodded in agreement, swallowing the mass amount of food he'd crammed in his mouth before speaking. "That's right Nee-sama!" he said with somewhat wide eyes. "I wanted to sit together so that we could talk, not just to eat!"

 

Seto looked back at the boy, staring for a split second before briefly turning back to her food. "...Then what do you want to talk about?" she asked him honestly, the boys sharing a small glance. Er... They'd kinda been asking her, the point was kind of lost without it. They turned back to Seto, silent for a moment as well.

 

In the end Mokuba merely shrugged, shaking his head and frowning. "I don't know," he said, biting his lip. "Christmas? ...Work? What do you want to talk about Nee-sama?" The table again fell silent, Katsuya mentally smacking his head on the table. Oh boy, at this rate they were just going in circles...

 

As it was the only sounds at the table were again the clacking sounds of silverware. Katsuya cleared off the rest of his plate, the sizeable chunk of turkey he'd taken finally reduced to nothing while they continued to sit in silence. Let it be known to anyone who hadn't noticed it long ago... Seto Kaiba did not like to talk. At all. And this did not bode well for an attempt to instill conversation from her. "So," Katsuya finally said with a cough, awkwardly breaking the silence. "...My mom called las' night..." He paused at that, the other two turning as he thought of where to go from there. "Said tha' Shizuka went through surgery alrigh'," he said with a small smile, before it faded with his next words. "Bandages have t' stay on f'r at least another month though, so we won' know if it worked 'r not 'till then..."

 

Mokuba nodded at the news, a smile back on his face. "But the surgery it self is over right?" he said with a grin, turning to Katsuya as he continued his food. "So that's at least half of it done with right?" Katsuya nodded, briefly turning to catch a glimpse of Seto's own expression.

 

The woman merely frowned slightly, looking at the blond oddly before turning back to her food. Still however, she remained completely silent, leaving Katsuya to cough and turn away awkwardly while the others finished their food. "Er... Yeah," he finally said with a nod, smiling as he turned back to Mokuba. "Guess so... Heh..." He leaned back on his chair, scratching his head for a moment. Er. Now what to talk about... "Righ'... Anyways... Did y' know tha' Anzu's goin' to Kyoto for Christmas?" he asked, Mokuba shaking his head in response.

 

"Nope," he said after swallowing the last of his beans, blinking. "Why's she going to Kyoto?"

 

He shrugged, before smirking. "Heh! Believe it 'r not, 's where Mai lives!"

 

Mokuba's eyes widened, Seto as well looking over with slightly raised eyebrows. "Wait... Kujaku Mai?" he asked, blinking owlishly before drifting into thought. "The lady who stowed away on the helicopter..?"

 

The two glanced over at Seto with that last part, the woman in question sending back a look that merely said 'if I cared about that, don't you think you'd know by now?'.

 

The boy turned back to Katsuya with that same look in mind, blinking again and pressing further. "...Why's she going to her house?"

 

Another shrug, Katsuya putting his plate to the side and taking a sip of his mostly untouched eggnog. "Hey, don' ask me," he said, shaking his head with a grin. "'Parently she got an invite and off she went!" ...Pretty interesting how that worked actually. Hm.

 

"Hnnn..." Mokuba blinked again, before looking over his plate and Seto's. Both were fairly cleared off, and given that Katsuya's had long since been cleared... "Ah- Nee-sama?" the boy asked, Seto in question turning. "Should I go get Kyouko now?"

 

She blinked, before standing up from her seat instead. "I'll let her know you're done," she said, moving over to the kitchen door. "Don't eat too many sugary foods," she added with a slight frown, eyes narrowed dangerously. "You need to sleep after this..."

 

The boy scowled, crossing his arms. "I'll still sleep," he protested, huffing as Katsuya rolled his eyes across from him. "I promise! Really!"

 

Seto merely smirked, turning back to the door. "We'll see..."

 

"Hah! Yeah," Katsuya said with a grin, laughing as Mokuba continued to glare at him. "Not t' bring yah down 'r anything Mokuba, but you c'n get pretty sugar high..."

 

The glare intensified, Mokuba sinking somewhat in his chair. "Mgnnnn..." As the boy continued to growl Seto walked back to the table, having already notified Kyouko on the meal being finished. Taking her seat as the maid came in to clear the table of the dishes and food both, Mokuba merely continued to pout, apparently not enjoying the cap on his dessert.

 

At least until another maid came in with three small pies, and put one in front of each person. He quickly sat up, 'cap' forgotten as he looked at the slightly steaming pies with a slow to come smile. "Ahhh..."

 

Katsuya as well looked at the pie with a grin, Seto herself simply raising her eyebrows as she looked at the food herself. "Mincemeat," she ended up saying, the maids having left the room. She continued to look at it, before seemingly giving a mostly invisible shrug. "...Hn." Oh hey, was that a look of approval she was giving?

 

Or maybe this was just Seto's version of yelling 'PIE'. Who the hell knew anymore, reading Seto was harder than reading the science teacher's notes these days. Not to mention Honda's writing. Unaware of the quiet thinking around her, she grabbed her fork and started eating. Pie, of course, was something else that passed in silence; but rather than the awkward silence it had been before it was more of a calm one, a silence that resulted more because of the fact that everyone's mouths were full. A few bites of pie were taken, Seto having apparently been the only one who knew what the pie was- other than 'good', anyway. Speaking of which...

 

"Nee-sama," Mokuba asked, halfway through his pie already despite earlier requests to slow down. "Where did you try mincemeat?" He swallowed another bite of the pie in question, staring at his sister. "I've never had it before now so..." The woman turned, looking up from her own small pie. For a moment, it looked as though she wasn't going to speak; the way she paused at the question tended to have that effect. However...

 

"...At one of the dinner's Gozaburo held," she said somewhat quietly, "They served this pie. You were in bed at the time," she added as she turned back to her food, the other two falling somewhat silent.

 

"A-Ah..." The boys nodded somewhat, an awkward silence again coming into the air. "...That makes sense," Mokuba finally said, Katsuya merely chewing through his pie as he watched the exchange. Just people eating pies now. Errr...

 

This was awkward...

 

The boy coughed, before going back to his pie for a moment before again turning to attempt some conversation. "Um... So... You said work went well, right Nee-sama?" Seto turned with that comment, and Mokuba went on, attempting to smile somewhat. "So then... What did you do today?" Katsuya blinked, glancing over at Seto in question in continued silence. Would she talk about that kind of stuff with him in the room? Company stuff was private wasn't it? It was one thing with say Mokuba but...

 

"I did finalize a few designs," she admitted, returning to her pie as the others listened in. "Overall however, I spent most of it smoothing things over from the past year." What about the past ye- Oooh. Right.

 

The big 5 turned it to shit. Yeaaaah... Something told him this would be a constant topic for the next... Month or so.

 

The woman grabbed her napkin from the table, wiping her mouth off before putting the dishes to the side. "Now then," she said, standing up and looking over the other two's finished dishes. "I'm going to go to my study... Mokuba?" she asked, the boy turning to her with a blink. "Do you want to-"

 

"Actually, Nee-sama," the boy said, cutting his sister off as he stood up as well. "I wanted to show you something!" Seto blinked, her brother continuing to grin as he continued. "Close your eyes, ok?"

 

Katsuya watched as the woman blinked once more before crossing her arms and doing just that after a moment of evident skepticism. "Alright," she said, frowning slightly. Katsuya as well stood up, stretching as Mokuba grabbed his sister's arm and pulled her forward.

 

"Just don't peek," he said with a grin, pulling the woman toward the door and pushing it open. "No matter what alright?" he added, Katsuya shaking his head and following after. Seto merely nodded somewhat, keeping silent as she was led out of the room and down the hall. While Mokuba probably knew exactly where they were going, the blond had to say- _he_ certainly didn't. Granted there was a lot in the house that he didn't know about, but it was still a little disorienting to be led around to another room he didn't know about.

 

Just watch, one day he'd find like... A classroom of all things.

 

"Alright," Mokuba said as they came to a pair of double doors, motioning for Katsuya to help with opening them. The blond paused for a moment before doing so, rushing forward and forcing them open with a slight grunt. The doors were held wide open, Mokuba pulling his sister into the room with a still wide grin. "When I say go," he said with clearly held back excitement, Seto still holding a hand over her eyes as she walked, "Open your eyes, ok?" Hehehe, this would probably be-

 

Holy shit... Katsuya stared as they were led into a large ballroom, the sound of closing double doors never meeting his ears. A few footsteps from the side caught his attention as both Hobson and Kyouko followed them into the room, the maid giving a short bow, before Katsuya turned back to look around. 'Improvised den' was really only a small way to put all this, given what the others had been going on about... Hell, the 'rec. room' was probably only half the size of the room, maybe smaller! It was huge.

 

And until he saw how high the ceiling was, he almost wondered why they bothered using this room. Looking at the top of the enormous tree that sat in the center of the room, he had to admit that he didn't think it would fit anywhere else. Though why they bothered with the size of the tree with the relatively miniscule in comparison number of presents at the bottom was beyond him. Who knew, it still looked cool.

 

The tree was by far not the only thing in the room however. Each chandelier above them was host to a number of tinsel strings, the trails leading from the 'center' of the room to either the sides of the walls or to other chandeliers and decorations. Branches of pine lined the walls, as did unlit candles and scarlet ribbons at each stand. The lights in this room however, were not dimmed like those in the hallways. Rather they were just as bright as they were intended to be, contrasting against the dark night sky outside the windows while the wind silently howled.

 

"Okay," Mokuba said, pulling Seto toward the middle and near the tree. A few couches and chairs had been moved into the room from the rec. room it seemed, and it was around the point that the others had also walked over to the spot that the boy let go of his sister's arm. "Now... Open your eyes!" Silence reigned completely with that one; whether it was simply in wait of whether or not she'd walk out after seeing the room or not, he personally wasn't sure. Seto however merely blinked a few times, slowly taking in the room with wider than normal eyes before turning to look at everyone else in the room with a slightly more narrowed gaze. It was hard as usual, to tell what she was thinking for the moment.

 

Time to see if they were all screwed or not he supposed. There was a bit more silence, the woman looking at her brother a moment before turning to the others. "...Where did all of this come from?" she finally asked, frowning slightly. Huh. Not a bad question actually. He sure didn't see the giant fake tree they had here being stored away too easily...

 

Hobson merely chuckled at the question though, leaning on his cane slightly and bowing his head. "I would say that 'this' from the storage room and my paycheck both, Seto-sama," he said with a slight grin, the maid beside him bowing as she gave her own answer.

 

"I would believe approximately seven hours of work to be the answer myself," she stated somewhat nervously, as though testing her waters with her boss. "Though I certainly cleaned as I did so," she added, hurriedly bowing again with slight panic.

 

Seto answered with more silence, Hobson turning around in its wake to leave the room. "Now then," he stated with a slight laugh, turning a moment and bowing his head politely. "I believe I'll leave you three alone now," he stated, Seto's eyes flickering over to Katsuya with slight disdain for the moment. What, she couldn't stand the fact that he was staying? Whatever... "If you need anything at all," Hobson continued, bowing his head yet again, "Kyouko will be just by the door."

 

At those words Kyouko bowed as well, before turning to follow after the man. "Ah..." The woman turned briefly, winking at Mokuba a moment with a small and possibly conniving smile. "Before I leave, I believe I should mention that there are a few things under the tree for you. I'm sure that Hobson-san intends for you to find them before the evening's end," she added, turning around again.

 

Hobson had already left the room by this point, and as Kyouko made to leave for the door Seto shook her head and turned to the tree in question. The woman crossed her arms, eyeing the presents sitting just slightly beneath it with a frown. "Tch... Fool," she muttered, taking a seat on the nearby chair and crossing her legs. "How old does he think I am?" she continued, leaving the answer somewhat open when Mokuba turned from the pile with a questioning glare. Seto managed to miss the glare it seemed though, and whether or not it was for the best was something they could argue for a while really.

 

"Actually," Kyouko said from the side, bowing politely as she re-entered the conversation with a short frown. "I believe Hobson-san has a granddaughter who is 6 years older than yourself, Seto-sama..." She bowed her head slightly, continuing on and biting her lip. "In fact,” she stated somewhat nervously, "I'm quite sure that she still receives gifts from him as well! I certainly doubt that age is truly a factor of the matter."

 

At this, Seto merely turned away, eyes still narrowed as she snorted. "Hn! That just makes him a bigger moron," she muttered, gaze softening only somewhat. Something told him that she didn't know about the granddaughter. In any case, present time right? Lets see what Seto got...

 

There was rustling beneath the tree, Mokuba pulling one of the few boxes beneath it out for the others to see. "Aaaah..." He blinked, turning to where Kyouko was again making her way back to the door. "Kyouko," he said with a slight frown, holding what looked to be a paper bag of sorts out. "One of these is for you..."

 

The woman blinked, eyes wide as she tentatively walked over. "I... Hobson-san gave me a gift?" she asked with surprise, taking the gift wrapped paper bag with shaking hands. "Ah..."

 

She looked inside, moving the tissue paper to the side as the others watched somewhat curiously. Abruptly however, the woman went beet red, closing the bag up with a stifled cough.

 

"E-Ah... F-Forgive me Mokuba-sama, Seto-sama," she said with a deep bow, holding the bag closed and close. "If... I could perhaps put this with my things..." Mokuba nodded, blinking confusedly as the woman turned to leave at a fairly quick pace.

 

"A-Ah, Kyouko!" Katsuya said, tapping the woman's shoulder as she moved off, almost jumping at the touch. "Er... When y' come back, could y' bring th' stuff?" he asked, Kyouko minutely staring before nodding with a smile.

 

"Of course," she said with a smile, before leaving the room just a slight shade lighter than the ribbons on the side. Katsuya looked back at the other two, Seto looking with raised eyebrows while Mokuba held the similar suspicious look he'd held when he first saw the blond with the bag.

 

From one, it was a 'you better not do anything stupid...'... And from the other...

 

Hehehe, the kid would find out what the things were soon enough! And so would Seto really. Seto for the moment decided to turn her attention away from the blond, instead looking to Mokuba as the boy fished out the other boxes. "I'm going to save mine for last," the boy was saying with a grin, handing a box to Seto and Katsuya both before taking a seat on the couch. They were both quite different in size, that was for sure; while his own could fit in his palm, it looked as though Seto's was about the size of her briefcase. And given Mokuba's face when he handed it to her, it was just as heavy too. "I want to see what you get first, alright?"

 

Seto merely stared at the box on her lap blankly, Katsuya giving a shrug and taking a seat on the couch as he took his own present. "Heh! Guess I'll go first then," he said with a laugh looking over at Seto with slight grin, "Get Seto-chan in th' mood f'r presents..." There was a growl from the side, Katsuya abruptly tensing and drawing back as he realized his 'slip' again.

 

"What did I say about calling me that?" she warned, eyes narrowed as the blond laughed nervously.

 

"Ehehehe... It... It won' happen again," he said with a cough, opening his box and continuing to inch his way to the opposite side of the couch. "Honest! Never aga-" He froze, pulling out the small object that was wrapped up in the box before giving a few more nervous coughs. Small, lightweight... And something that, while it would likely gather pocket lint, was not something to be taken lightly. "H-Holy shit," he muttered, Mokuba and Seto both staring with raised brows as the blond pulled out what looked to be a well made pocket knife. He flicked the blade out, eyes widening further as it gleamed under the chandelier light. The handle itself wasn't anything to sneeze at either, that was for sure.

 

Seriously though. A... A knife? The woman across and beside him stared, before smirking and shaking her head. "Handy," she said, turning back to look at her own unopened box with crossed arms. "You now have something to defend yourself with." Katsuya ignored the comment for once, merely continuing to stare at the pocket knife before putting it carefully back in the box. Man...

 

This was... "Shit," he muttered, turning to Mokuba with wide eyes. "How much did Hobson spend on this?" Mokuba hurriedly shook his head, instead watching as Kyouko returned from the kitchen with what looked to be a dolly-cart in front of her.

 

"I- I don't know," he said with a large shrug, before turning as the maid pulled in a small table on the dolly.

 

Somehow, she'd managed to balance a pot atop it as well. Though given her expression, it wasn't an easy task.

 

"...Ah... What's that?" Mokuba asked as the maid came to a stop, blinking as she carefully placed the pot on the ground. The table in question was also carefully brought to the floor, Katsuya running over to help the woman put it down safely as Seto answered for them.

 

"...That's a kotatsu," she said with narrowed eyes, frowning as the others made to plug the pot in and flick the table on. "...Just why are you bringing a kotatsu in here, Mutt?" What, she knew what the table was but not why it was there?

 

The blond turned, taking the small pot that Kyouko had managed to bring in with the table and putting it on the top. "Heh... You'll see," he said with a grin, taking a seat at it and propping his arms on it. "Why dontcha open up yer present while y' wait," he asked, Mokuba looking back at Seto at the comment.

 

"Yeah," the boy said, grinning as he looked back at his sister. "I won't open mine until you look at yours Nee-sama, so you mind as well get it over with," he said with a nod. Seto appeared to let out a long albeit silent and otherwise invisible sigh, before nodding. "Alright," she muttered, untying the ribbon that held the box to its cover.

 

She carefully lifted the lid off and put it to the side, before pulling out a book with a somewhat surprised stare. It looked like a pretty nice book to say the least... Almost as though it was new, but there was no way that books were made with those sorts of covers anymore right? Seto continued to look it over, before pulling out the other two, equally decent looking and evenly sized books out to examine the covers. For a moment, the woman merely looked over the English titles in silence. As she opened the cover of the first however, the dull silence and seeming glare was quickly replaced with raised eyebrows and slightly wider than the norm eyes.

 

"...He gave me a collection from the 'Cthulu Mythos'," she finally said somewhat incredulously, the rather large box again becoming home to two of the three books. "...Hn..." The woman quickly flipped to the next page as she put the box to the side, leaning back in her chair and beginning to read.

 

"N-Nee-sama," Mokuba muttered, sighing as he received no real answer. Hahaha, didn't look like she'd be getting out of that book anytime soon... "Hahhhh..." The boy shook his head, before turning back to grab his own box while Kyouko came back in with a jug of water and the same plastic bag from before. He put the box under his arm, standing and watching as the woman made her way over to the kotatsu. "Hn..?"

 

Katsuya took the bag, grinning as the maid poured the water into the pot and moved to leave for the side again. "Heh! C'mon over here," the blond said, putting the bag at the side of the table and taking a seat. The boy blinked, crossing his legs and hesitantly sitting beneath the table blanket with a nod. "You r'member when I asked yah what kinds 'f stuff you'd had, over th' summer?" he continued, watching as Mokuba broke into a grin when he realized what the blond was getting at. Katsuya also continued to grin, turning on the small pot of water and pulling out a bag of noodles with a cluster of now pre-boiled eggs. "Hehe! Ta-daaaah~ Hey Seto-chan!" he asked, instantly receiving a low growl and a glare for his efforts. He continued on despite that however, still grinning. "You ever had oden?"

 

The reaction to say the least was not... Quite what he expected. Did she actually pull a face there? As in, something other than a scowl? And... More of disgust? Complete and utter disgust? The woman quickly retreated back and behind her book, Katsuya eventually giving a shrug as Mokuba looked into the pot. The water at the moment was sitting at a standstill with the recently added noodles, small bits of steam slowly rising from the broth as that itself was added in. "How long will it take to finish?" the boy asked eagerly, watching the blond put a few eggs in with rest of the food that was being put into the water.

 

"Hnnn... Not long," the blond said as the water heated up, stirring it with a pair of chopsticks before leaning back from the water. "Probably a few minutes..." He looked over to where Seto was reading, still smiling despite the seemingly warning glare he received in response. "Oiii... Y'sure you don' want any?"

 

There was another short growl, the woman not looking up from her book this time. "I'm fine, MUTT." Owch, it wasn't like his cooking was toxic or anything. Mokuba turned from the table, the water starting to boil as the boy looked to his currently red-faced older sister.

 

"Are you sure Nee-sama?" he said worriedly, frowning somewhat. "It smells pretty good, you never know until you try... And it's warm over here too, you should take a seat!"

 

There was a short bit of silence, Seto looking over her book with narrowed eyes. "I've had it before," she said stiffly, sending another glare toward Katsuya. "And I don't. Want. Any," she added lowly, glare intensifying before she returned to her book. The boys held back a nervous laugh laugh, unable to turn back to the table without grinning.

 

Somehow, with all that usually had to be done to get that reaction, they couldn't take this seriously. "Heh... Whatever yah say," Katsuya said, shaking his head and looking over the oden again. "Anyways, food shouldn' be much longer Mokuba, here's th' chopsticks... Jus' had t' heat it up..."

 

He nodded, taking the chopsticks from Katsuya and looking into the pot again as he snapped them apart. "Hn..."

 

"Er... Y-Y' might wanna not sit so close to th' pot though," he said with a laugh, lightly waving his chopsticks over the pot to send Mokuba back a bit. The boy blinked, leaning back somewhat as the blond continued. "Anyways... Why don't y' open yer present while we wait?"

 

Mokuba stared slightly, before smiling and pulling the box over with a nod. "Good idea... It seems pretty flat though," he said with a laugh, feeling around the edges for where he could open the box. The boy slowly pulled the lid off, putting it to the side before blinking at the contents. "Uh..." He pulled out a few sheets from the box, Katsuya staring as what looked to be a photo of the white horse he'd seen earlier was pulled out. "There's an envelope and a folder in here," he said with a blank expression, holding the envelope up as Seto came over.

 

She lightly took the envelope, opening it and pulling out a few papers in one smooth motion before frowning. There was a brief span of silence as she read over the papers; it only took an instant for her to apparently realize what she was reading though. "...This is a part of Gozaburo's will and testament," she muttered, flipping over one of the pages and continuing to read with increasingly narrowed eyes. "Why didn't I see this when he died?" Errr... Good question?

 

"That would likely be because, despite your position of CEO," Hobson stated, the others turning as the man slowly ambled his way into the room seemingly from no where, "You were not of the legal age to deal with all of his papers. At least," he added with a short and otherwise serious wave, "Not according to the papers themselves."

 

Seto frowned slightly, before looking back to the papers and crossing her arms beneath them. "...These papers say that we have a horse, and have had one for at least a few years," she added, narrowing her eyes. "...Since when did that happen?"

 

The old man merely smiled, chuckling slightly as he leaned against his cane. "It should all be there on the papers, Seto-sama," he said with a laugh. "Now then..." He turned to Mokuba, who was looking into the folder curiously as a number of papers fell from it. "To be specific on what these papers detail, it was Gozaburo-sama's wish that you receive, on the Christmas of your eleventh birthday, that horse you see there." 'That horse' apparently being called 'Yuki', from what he got from the folder in any case.

 

He looked over at Seto, watching as the woman looked over the papers again. "Last time I checked," Seto said from the papers, still frowning, "Gozaburo's ' _eldest son_ ' didn't have a horse."

 

Hobson waved the woman off somewhat, shaking his head in the closest thing the man could likely get to 'dismissal' concerning his boss. "Oh, well... The papers were written a full week before that incident occurred," he stated, Mokuba frowning at the mention of an otherwise unknown occurrence. "If it aids any thoughts on the matter, you are not the only one who has had to deal with the stallion's behaviour."

 

It didn't look like it did to tell the truth; if anything, that gained another fairly annoyed if not livid expression in response. "...You _kept_ the horse?" There was an awkward pause as the woman grit her teeth, before folding the papers back up. "...Just why did you even bring up Gozaburo in the first place?" the woman continued, the glare seeming to act as more than just a glare with those words.

 

Apparently Hobson was immune to the expression, as he merely looked up at the woman somewhat blankly while he responded. "Believe me when I say Seto-sama," he said with a stern frown, "If I could have simply stuck with giving this horse as a gift rather than dredging up the legal matters at hand, I would have. But the fact remains," he continued, shaking his head as Katsuya looked over the folder with Mokuba and turning back to his employer, "I was bound to go through with his final wishes... Which, might I add, included this."

 

"B'sides," Katsuya said with a grin as he looked up from the folder, Mokuba still looking over the horse papers. "If it's his horse, he gets t' say if he keeps it right?"

 

The boy in question looked up from the papers, sending a somewhat pleading look to his older sister as he bit his lip. "There's papers for lessons in here Nee-sama..." Mokuba looked back at the papers, before turning up to his sister and holding a few out for her to look at. "The horse looks nice too, and it seems fun," he added with a nod, nervously bowing his head. "Could I... At least give it a try..?"

 

Seto's glare softened, the woman lightly grabbing the papers from her brother's hands and looking through it. A few moments passed before she looked back down at Mokuba from behind them, giving a small nod. "...Alright," she said, giving the folder back. One could almost hear the sigh of resignation in her words. "However," she added with a small glare, looking at Hobson almost accusingly as Katsuya laughed nervously at the side. "I expect to know exactly when the first lesson is so I can be there if anything happens... Understand?"

 

The man merely bowed, a smile on his face as he nodded an affirmative. "But of course Seto-sama," he said politely, before looking at the oden pot and turning to the two boys. "In the meantime," he said with a slightly rasped chuckle, "I believe your food is finished..." Done? A thick smell of eggs meat and noodles hit his nostrils, pulling the blond from his thoughts. R-Right!

 

"Ack!" Katsuya jumped, going back to the pot and poking through it with the chopsticks. "Oh shit, please don't be burnt, please... Ack..." He fished around the pot, clicking it off with a wince before calming down. Well...

 

Some of the noodles were singed but hey, it was otherwise pretty good.

 

"Hahhh... Alrigh'!" He pulled out two dishes from the bag, holding one out for Mokuba to take. "Heh... Mokuba, y' want some?"

 

The boy nodded, putting the picture and folder back in the box before leaning forward at the table and holding the bowl out. "Definitely," he said with a grin, grabbing the chopsticks again and watching as Katsuya shuffled close himself.

 

"Heh! Dig in!" He grinned, taking his own chopsticks and pulling out some noodles for the two before moving on to grabbing an egg. "I didn' cook everythin'," he said with a nod, noting that Seto had since returned to her book. "But... 's a pretty good snack b'fore bed right?"

 

Mokuba nodded, laughing somewhat and taking a pile of noodles for himself before grabbing a few strips of meat. "Hmhm!" He stuffed a pile of the food in his mouth, pausing for a moment before nodding to himself. "Mmm... 'S good," he said with a grin, before swallowing the rest of his food. "It's great Katsuya-nii! Ah..." The boy blinked, turning to the side. "That reminds me..." He moved from the table as Katsuya continued eating, fishing what looked to be one last pair of boxes from under the tree. "Here," he said with a grin, handing the blond the more 'square' one of the two. "Your Christmas present!"

 

The blond blinked, pausing from his food to open it up. "Oh, hey!" He pulled out a green-blue jacket, laughing as it unfolded in his hands. Over all, it looked pretty nice. But... "Mokuba," he said with a laugh, shaking his head. "I already got a coat y'know..."

 

He shrugged, moving back to the warmth of the table. "I know," he said with a shrug, going back to the oden as Seto looked over with a somewhat betrayed look. Katsuya almost had to laugh again as he caught the look- what, Mokuba couldn't like oden? That was too much? Hahaha... The boy grabbed one of the stringy chunks of meat from the broth, swallowing it whole before continuing with a small frown. "And that's great for the winter... But your last jacket ended up all bloody," he continued, looking down almost guiltily. "And your coat is a little warm for spring right? So I thought I'd get you a new one!" Ah... That was right, his old one was pretty much unusable with the bloodstain on the side. Not that he hadn't kept it (Hey, he'd bled on that thing!), but...

 

Wearing it around was kinda uncomfortable given that it was a giant bloodstain by his neck. Hahaha... This jacket though. It was pretty much the same as his old one, pockets and everything! ...Well... Save the fact that it was new of course. And... Not green.

 

He grinned nonetheless, shaking his head. "Hahaha! Now I wish my present was more than jus' a bunch 'f food," he laughed, Mokuba still grinning in response. The blond looked into the pot of oden, blinking as he noted what was remaining. "Er... Speakin' of th' food..."

 

Mokuba snatched the last of the meat, grinning as he downed it; in its place was nothing but a small bit of soup broth, the food itself having long been devoured. "Yep- looks like it's all gone Katsuya-nii!" The grin died down to a more relaxed smile, the boy bowing his head somewhat and putting the chopsticks and plate down. "Thanks for the food!"

 

"Heh..." He shook his head, smirking. "It was nothin'..."

 

At this point Seto had packed up her books, and, placing the box on the chair behind her, she came over and lightly shook her brother's shoulder. "If you're done," she said plainly, expression mostly unreadable, "Then it's about time for you to get some sleep..."

 

The boy smirked, getting up as Katsuya stowed the used food wrappers in the plastic bag. "Heh! Same goes for you Nee-sama," he said with a grin, grabbing the box he'd pulled from the tree along with his 'horse papers' and their own box. "Tomorrows sunday, make sure you sleep in for once!"

 

She shook her head, snorting before taking her brother's free hand. "Hn... I'll _try_ , how about that?" she said with a small smile, before moving to step around the small bits of ribbon and paper on the floor. Hobson, who had stayed near the couches since he came in, bowed as the woman passed and spoke. "...Be sure this is cleaned up by the morning," she told him as she walked by, receiving yet another bow in response. Hobson nodded the affirmative, a simple ' _Of course, Seto-sama_ ' being given in response as the siblings left the room.

 

He turned to Katsuya, the blond currently staring at the door they'd walked through. Hobson shook his head, hobbling over and rapping his knuckles on the table to snap the blond from the slight daze. "Ach-hm!" The blond jumped, coughing as Hobson chuckled and continued to shake his head. "I assume you'll be cleaning up your table then?" he asked, Katsuya pulling himself up and turning off the kotatsu lest he fall asleep under it.

 

"E-Er... R-Right," he said somewhat sheepishly, grabbing the oden pot and the bag before moving to unplug the device. "Er... I'll be back f'r th' table then," he said, moving off to put the things in the kitchen.

 

"Oh, don't bother with that," said another voice, Katsuya turning as Kyouko returned with the second maid from before. "Kira-chan and I will handle it, it's easier to just put it away than bring it in and out of the kitchen!" She chuckled somewhat, Katsuya nodding as he shouldered the bag. "You just get a decent night's rest, understand?" she asked, bowing her head. "I can almost guarantee that Mokuba-sama will want to spend some time with you and Seto-sama in the morning! You've helped enough for tonight!" Again, the blond nodded, before being grabbed lightly by the shoulder again. "Ah... And before I forget," she stated, whispering in the teen's ear as the blond blinked. "I believe the things you asked me to hide are in the third pot drawer, specifically inside the double boiler pot, understand..?" The things he asked her to-

 

He blinked, before nodding with a smirk. "Heh... Right," he said with a nod, before moving to leave. "Thanks Kyouko!" The woman gave a bowing nod in response, Katsuya leaving the room at a slight run.

 

Heh. He grinned to himself, running down the halls and into the kitchen. Not a bad Christmas, he had to say! And speaking of Christmas... The blond put the still wrapped food in the bag in the fridge, dumping the water down the sink in the kitchen from the pot. Garbage went in the garbage can, the pot was placed on the side where he was (apparently) supposed to leave it... Soon enough with everything put away there was really only one thing left.

 

Ah... Kyouko had said the 'double boiler' pot right? He opened a few of the cupboards, searching around one after the other. Third drawer from the right or the left, how was this any help? He shook it off, before finding one with an enormous pot in it. ...Double boiler maybe? Not like he knew what that was... But this looked big enough. "Hnnnn... Er... Tha' might be it," he muttered, before pulling the pot forward and looking in.

 

Oh, would you look at that, there it was! Katsuya pulled the wrapped present out, closing the cupboard back up with a grin before looking over at the clock. The grin fell rather quickly, Katsuya standing and coughing at the time. Holllly shit, almost midnight... Course, he'd been up later but still. Where did all the time go? He shook his head, gripping the present under his arm and heading upstairs. Alright...

 

Seto was probably around Mokuba's room right now, that was in the hall over from his. If she wasn't, he could probably head her off at her own hall. Probably. Wasn't too sure how that would work, place was like a maze. He walked up the stairs, the halls almost completely blacked out in comparison to those on the main floor. The lights were turned off for anyone sleeping, and despite the fact that barely anyone would be seeing the halls more than a few times, they too were just as wonderfully decorated. Though he had to say, he was glad there wasn't any mistletoe hanging around. That would be...

 

He turned the corner, watching as Seto walked down the hall as predicted. ...That would be awkward. "Ah... Se-" He cut himself off, watching as the woman raised her eyebrows. R-Right... Don't call her 'chan', would probably not help the situation...

 

"...Jonouchi?" Seto said with a frown, crossing her arms as she walked over to the slightly red-faced blond. "What are you doing here?"

 

Katsuya coughed, handing her the brown present with a nervous nod. "Well... 'S th' holidays righ'?" he asked, turning away somewhat as his face heated up. Please don't hate it please don't hate it... "I thought y' might like this..."

 

There was a pause, a span of suspicious silence filling into the air as Seto held the present. Slowly however, despite the slight frown, she tore away at the paper- clearing it away to reveal the leather-bound cover of a book. ' _Kouryuu Albu-_ '

 

The woman stared, clearing a few bits of paper from the book before looking back at Katsuya in somewhat shocked silence. She wasn't glaring at the moment. If anything the frown she held was more confused than anything, possibly wondering just how the hell he'd gotten his hands on the book. For many moments more the silence continued to persist, the two merely sharing an odd and brief look before Katsuya gave a small and honest smile.

 

"Heh... No worries," he assured with a laugh, Seto still staring in silence. "I didn' do anythin' stupid t' get this..." He turned, giving a small wave before leaving down the hall. "...Merry Christmas, Seto-chan..."

 

This time as he went down the hall, there was no growl. There wasn't even a word, and when he looked back from the corner that 'his' hall was on he didn't see anyone despite the usual path that led from Mokuba's room to Seto's own. Turning down into the hall where his room was in silence, the blond glanced back at the empty space behind him once again. No sounds, no glares... Did she like it then? What did she even think of it?

 

He stowed his hands in his pockets, turning from beside his door with a slight frown as he looked into the darkness. Why didn't she say anything that time for that matter, when he'd slipped on her name? Not even a growl? Maaaan that was weird... The blond rubbed his head, walking into his room and shutting the door behind him with a small click. Was she actually so surprised she hadn't said anything or...

 

Was she actually ok with him saying that? He peeled off his socks, snorting at the thought. Heh! Scratch that last one, there was no way in hell he'd escape alive if he acted like that was the answer. Katsuya gave a loud yawn, tossing his jeans to the side off the room as well before collapsing on the bed with a small groan. Ahhhh. Whatever. Time to sleep off dinner and presents, that was for s-

 

He frowned, sitting up from where he'd fallen on the bed. Something was pushing against his chest. "What th' hell?" Something hard on his bed...

 

He blinked as he rolled over, looking at a small box that had managed to create an impression in the blankets under his weight. The blond picked it up, lying back down on the bed somewhat and looking it over. Just a small white box. It easily fit in his palm, and other than the fact that it was a white grey there was nothing too special about it. He opened it, sitting up against his pillow as moonlight from the window glowed over something metal on the box. "Hn... These are..." He pulled out the set of dog tags with a wry laugh, light gleaming on the small chain that held them together. Dog tags. Hahaha, that really figured, now who did this...

 

He looked back at the box, picking up a small and simple hand written note from inside it as the smile vanished. This note was from Seto. So then... _She'd_ given him these?

 

' _Recent events made the fact that attempting to kick you out would be futile_ ,' the note stated almost bluntly, Katsuya rolling his eyes and smirking at it. Heh. Yeah, Mokuba would probably drag him back in if she tried that. He fingered the dog tags in his other hand, looking over them for a moment. The metal felt pretty damn smooth, save for what was engraved on the side. And the were shining, almost like silver... Didn't seem like it was silver though, least, it didn't 'feel' like it if that made sense.

 

' _So,_ ' the note continued as the blond absently felt the tags over, ' _You can consider this something to at least keep you from dying too easily. Or possibly getting lost like the dog you are. I suppose it's official_ ,' he could hear the woman saying in that same condescending tone she always used. ' _You're mine, Mutt._ ' And of course, right after that was a 'Merry Christmas' that he had to read over a few times to believe she'd written it. Hahaha...

 

The tags continued to glow in the light, Katsuya shaking his head and laughing silently as he collapsed back on the bed. 'Hers' was he? He looked over the dog tags, the engraved kanji showing clearly despite the partial darkness. The first one just had his name on it, neatly engraved in vertical rows. The second was for some reason his address and bloodtype both. Also written in rows, but still weird in his opinion. Regardless of what the tags said however, he continued chuckling slightly as he lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "Heh... there's a big part 'f me tha' want's that t' mean somethin else," he muttered, rolling over on the bed with a somewhat depressed smile. "Jus' wish th' other half would stop tellin' me it's def'nitly a threat..."

 

Whatever reasons Seto had for giving him these he told himself, he'd take them. And he'd treasure them, that was for sure.

 

And while Katsuya fell asleep with platinum dog tags gripped in his hands, Mokuba as well began to quietly drift off with a stuffed dragon monogramed with his name at the side of the bed, calmly waiting for the next morning to come. In another room the older of the three sat on her own bed, flipping through the pages of a photo album with a small, sad smile before pulling out a card and shaking her head at the messy hand drawn cover. ' _Have fun once in a while,_ ' the card said.

 

She merely put it at the side and snorted, returning to her album before turning in to sleep not fifteen minutes later.

 

Elsewhere in Tokyo an albino teen looked up from his figurines at a clock with wide eyes, hardly believing the amount of time he'd missed. Materials were put away and he headed off to bed, a box of left-over food from an earlier 'Christmas KFC' dinner sitting to the side. Not too much further from the apartment building the albino lived in another teen, slightly older, was long since asleep with a book on motorcycles in his hand... With a large and somewhat odd looking dog at the edge of the bed and an old used dirt bike sitting in the driveway. On another side of the city where most of the inhabitants of the street and house both were asleep on the other hand, an otherwise invisible and restless spirit stood at his host's bedside, staring out the window deep in thought... And wondering whether or not any of those thoughts would ever have to be voiced.

 

An hour or so away in Kyoto, two women had only just lay down for the night themselves, hair still slightly wet from a hot-spring they'd visited. Soft futon lay flat on the floor beneath them as shadows played along the side of a paper screen at their side, the two both falling asleep within only an instant. Another few hours away, the hospital staff roughly shook a patient's visitor awake, the visitor giving one last whispered good night before leaving... Remaining unheard as the patient herself continued to sleep in peace. But despite the festivities, and despite the calm that filled the air in its wake, there were things of much darker origin occurring at the moment.

 

And for all the peace that was in place at the moment... It would only last so long.

 


End file.
